INSERT STRING OF EXPLETIVES HERE

WWAZ-DT tried to move to channel 9 from 44, the FCC rejected that, so now they're asking for...

... wait for it...

... they're owned by the bank (formerly Pappas), keep that in mind...

... Channel 5.

- Trip

INSERT STRING OF EXPLETIVES HERE

WWAZ-DT tried to move to channel 9 from 44, the FCC rejected that, so now they're asking for...
... wait for it...
... they're owned by the bank (formerly Pappas), keep that in mind...
... Channel 5.
- Trip
I don't see why that is THAT much of a problem. Sure, low VHF reception is problematic. According to wiki, WWAZ is a Spanish language station broadcasting TuVision, Pappas's own Spanish language network. Probably does not have many viewers (hence the bankruptcy). If we are going to have stations on low VHF, it should be the rural or minor SD only stations or low power religious so the upper VHF and UHF bands can be used by the more watched stations.

I think this is their petition: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520063339. If I read it correctly, not only does WWAZ-DT want to change RF channels, they want to move the antenna location quite a few miles from a rural site to Milwaukee. Would the FCC grant this?

Besides, Trip, don't you want at least some stations on low VHF for DXing? Think of the challenge to get one of the 2? remaining stations on VHF 4! If WHBF-DT becomes the only full power station on VHF 4, it could become a prime bragging rights target for DXers. :D

... Channel 5

5 is better than 2-4 and probably 6, but spending money on Low-VHF to save money is not the kind of bargain hunting that will pay off in the long-run, unless all they care about is getting onto cable.

How about dropping must-carry for Low-VHF? Who cares if no one can receive your signal as long as the local cable companies have to carry your station, right? I see more "abuses" of Low-VHF down the road if this band is retained.

WAOW was too close for 9?

I don't see why that is THAT much of a problem. Sure, low VHF reception is problematic.
I think this is their petition: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520063339. If I read it correctly, not only does WWAZ-DT want to change RF channels, they want to move the antenna location quite a few miles from a rural site to Milwaukee. Would the FCC grant this?

Besides, Trip, don't you want at least some stations on low VHF for DXing? Think of the challenge to get one of the 2? remaining stations on VHF 4! If WHBF-DT becomes the only full power station on VHF 4, it could become a prime bragging rights target for DXers. :D

The answer to #1 is likely no. WWAZ is licensed to Fond-du-Lac, which is in the Green Bay, WI market. This would be essentially shutting down a Green Bay station and starting up a new Milwaukee station. The FCC won't allow that, IMO. I could be dead wrong, and I'd love to hear from someone in the know on this.

Second, VHF-5? It's in bankruptcy now, would going to channel 5 really help? No. Yes, it serves more theoretical viewers, but actual? Anyone going to put up a big antenna for a low-rated network? Even better, go to Milwaukee and stay on 9.

The answer to #1 is likely no. WWAZ is licensed to Fond-du-Lac, which is in the Green Bay, WI market. This would be essentially shutting down a Green Bay station and starting up a new Milwaukee station. The FCC won't allow that, IMO. I could be dead wrong, and I'd love to hear from someone in the know on this.

Second, VHF-5? It's in bankruptcy now, would going to channel 5 really help? No. Yes, it serves more theoretical viewers, but actual? Anyone going to put up a big antenna for a low-rated network? Even better, go to Milwaukee and stay on 9.

They probably can't adequately cover the City of License with 9 as respects the contour. Not that I believe 5 will be effective. A TV Fool plot for WMVS/8/25kW in Milwaukee shows very weak reception in Fond du Lac.

As for the positioning, is Dodge County, where the tower is currently located in the Green Bay DMA? It certainly looks a lot closer to Milwaukee. If not, perhaps it doesn't matter as long as the COL is within the DMA and coverage range. It sure doesn't sound right, however.

Another problem I see with 5 is that it's pretty close to WGVK in Kalamazoo, within 130 miles, which puts it in the conflict zone.

Shoot this one down, FCC.

Our first strong station analog has gone dark in the Wash DC area!! I'm already noticing quite an improvement on previously marginal/unreceivable digitals. Come Feb '09; I'm hoping many others will see similar improvements!!:)

Our first strong station analog has gone dark in the Wash DC area!! I'm already noticing quite an improvement on previously marginal/unreceivable digitals. Come Feb '09; I'm hoping many others will see similar improvements!!:)

Was it WNVC? Let me know so I can update the spreadsheet. Thanks.

Was it WNVC? Let me know so I can update the spreadsheet. Thanks.YES,

Both WNVC 56 analog, & 57 digital are dark!!

I don't see why that is THAT much of a problem. Sure, low VHF reception is problematic. According to wiki, WWAZ is a Spanish language station broadcasting TuVision, Pappas's own Spanish language network. Probably does not have many viewers (hence the bankruptcy). If we are going to have stations on low VHF, it should be the rural or minor SD only stations or low power religious so the upper VHF and UHF bands can be used by the more watched stations.

I think this is their petition: http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520063339. If I read it correctly, not only does WWAZ-DT want to change RF channels, they want to move the antenna location quite a few miles from a rural site to Milwaukee. Would the FCC grant this?

First of all, the station is silent, both analog and digital.

Second, they tried this, also, during the shuffle that got WKPT and others relocated, and the FCC said then that interference to WAOW was a problem.

Besides, Trip, don't you want at least some stations on low VHF for DXing? Think of the challenge to get one of the 2? remaining stations on VHF 4! If WHBF-DT becomes the only full power station on VHF 4, it could become a prime bragging rights target for DXers. :D

After suffering with a low-VHF myself, I don't wish it on ANYONE. Even if it costs me e-skip.

The answer to #1 is likely no. WWAZ is licensed to Fond-du-Lac, which is in the Green Bay, WI market. This would be essentially shutting down a Green Bay station and starting up a new Milwaukee station. The FCC won't allow that, IMO. I could be dead wrong, and I'd love to hear from someone in the know on this.

I'm not sure how they intend to get must-carry, but the goal is to put the station in Milwaukee, where there's little competition for Spanish viewers (there's WYTU-LP and... that's it).

They probably can't adequately cover the City of License with 9 as respects the contour. Not that I believe 5 will be effective. A TV Fool plot for WMVS/8/25kW in Milwaukee shows very weak reception in Fond du Lac.

As for the positioning, is Dodge County, where the tower is currently located in the Green Bay DMA? It certainly looks a lot closer to Milwaukee. If not, perhaps it doesn't matter as long as the COL is within the DMA and coverage range. It sure doesn't sound right, however.

Another problem I see with 5 is that it's pretty close to WGVK in Kalamazoo, within 130 miles, which puts it in the conflict zone.

Shoot this one down, FCC.

Yeah, the WGVK thing is kinda what surprised me--I would have thought they'd have wanted 6 rather than 5 (WITI is already there, so you know it works) but I guess not.

- Trip

YES,

Both WNVC 56 analog, & 57 digital are dark!!

Thanks! So, unless WUTB turns off analog before 2/17/09, which does not appear to be planned, WNVC won't return until next year. However, WNVT has a simulcast sub-channel for WNVC, according to the following:

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=663154

Thanks! So, unless WUTB turns off analog before 2/17/09, which does not appear to be planned, WNVC won't return until next year. However, WNVT has a simulcast sub-channel for WNVC, according to the following:
There is/was a common MHz .1 channel between the two digital sister stations. However, the digital stations had 8 unique SD sub-channels with different foreign networks between them, so at least 3 are no longer available OTA until next February. WNVC-DT 56 always identified the digital station as -DT 57 and mapped the PSIP data to the physical RF 57 channel, WNVC-DT 57.1, 57.2. They were presumably not supposed to do this, but I guess no one complained to the FCC.

As as side note, on their website about the shutdown, they do state that viewers will need to do a channel scan on February 17 which is something that so many other transition info pages don't mention. However, they probably should have said February 18 as WUTB 24 is likely to say on the air until the bitter end. See http://www.mhznetworks.org/how-to-watch-mhz/index.php?option=com_news&id=65.

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO. Changed KWHD-DT's DTV channel from 46 to 45. Proceeding Terminated. (Dkt No. RM-11447, 08-106). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/02/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2031). MB DA-08-2031A1.doc DA-08-2031A1.pdf DA-08-2031A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA. Changed KLTS-DT's DTV channel from *25 to *24. Proceeding Terminated. (Dkt No. RM-11455, 08-118). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/02/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2032). MB DA-08-2032A1.doc DA-08-2032A1.pdf DA-08-2032A1.txt

The answer to #1 is likely no. WWAZ is licensed to Fond-du-Lac, which is in the Green Bay, WI market. This would be essentially shutting down a Green Bay station and starting up a new Milwaukee station. The FCC won't allow that, IMO. I could be dead wrong, and I'd love to hear from someone in the know on this.


Not certain that I qualify as "in the know" but I am aware of a community of license change that crossed DMAs. WPCW (19, post transition 11) in Jeanette, PA (Pittsburgh DMA) was originally licensed to Johnstown, PA (Johnstown-Altoona-State College DMA) and "moved" to Jeanette specifically to gain access to the Pittsburgh market. The analog transmitter is still located outside of Johnstown, while the digital transmitter will be located in the city of Pittsburgh. The transfer was done as part of a bankruptcy proceeding, but still is indicative of the FCC's willingness to allow such transfers between DMAs.

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO. Changed KWHD-DT's DTV channel from 46 to 45. Proceeding Terminated. (Dkt No. RM-11447, 08-106). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/02/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2031). MB DA-08-2031A1.doc DA-08-2031A1.pdf DA-08-2031A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA. Changed KLTS-DT's DTV channel from *25 to *24. Proceeding Terminated. (Dkt No. RM-11455, 08-118). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/02/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2032). MB DA-08-2032A1.doc DA-08-2032A1.pdf DA-08-2032A1.txt

Awesome, so any of these moves which show up are channel change requests that got accepted. That's fast turn-around too--filed 06/20/2008, approved 09/03/2008? For government, that's blazing!

- Trip

Awesome, so any of these moves which show up are channel change requests that got accepted. That's fast turn-around too--filed 06/20/2008, approved 09/03/2008? For government, that's blazing!

- Trip

Fast on these two, but I'm wondering what is happening with KNAZ. KNAZ is asking to remain on 22 instead of returning to 2. Flagstaff does not seem to be a problem area (i.e. very crowded and preventing this change). There are also several others which have yet to advance to the NPRM stage.

Fast on these two, but I'm wondering what is happening with KNAZ. KNAZ is asking to remain on 22 instead of returning to 2. Flagstaff does not seem to be a problem area (i.e. very crowded and preventing this change). There are also several others which have yet to advance to the NPRM stage.

I'm not sure, there might be some conflict we're not seeing, but I can't imagine what it is. There's a number of stations that haven't been processed, some of which are being immediately processed once amendments are filed (see WMSN, WWSI).

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520063343

This is an Opposition Comment to WYDO-DT's request to relocate from channel 14 to 47, filed by WRAL-DT, which is moving to channel 48 next year...

- Trip

I updated my Channel Change page this morning, and will update it again on Friday so it has the full two weeks.

I've put all granted channel change requests in front of a green background, so they're easy to spot.

Also, I figured out why WSYX-DT's move to channel 48 hasn't been given an NPRM yet. It's ever so slightly short-spaced to WQHS-DT in Cleveland, also on 48. I think they'd be much better off asking for channel 32.

- Trip

WJSP-DT has withdrawn their petition to move from DT-23 to DT-11. WTVM-DT paid them off.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520064789

EDIT: I've now updated my page to reflect this and other comments added today.

- Trip

Also, I figured out why WSYX-DT's move to channel 48 hasn't been given an NPRM yet. It's ever so slightly short-spaced to WQHS-DT in Cleveland, also on 48. I think they'd be much better off asking for channel 32.


Actually, this is incorrect - WQHS-DT is actually on RF 34.

WSYX-DT is probably short-spaced to WOAC-DT in Canton, which is on adjacent RF channel 47. Also, they would be potentially short-spaced to WDLI-DT, also in Canton, if their request to move to adjacent RF channel 49 is granted.

Actually, this is incorrect - WQHS-DT is actually on RF 34.

WSYX-DT is probably short-spaced to WOAC-DT in Canton, which is on adjacent RF channel 47. Also, they would be potentially short-spaced to WDLI-DT, also in Canton, if their request to move to adjacent RF channel 49 is granted.

Eep, you're right. Wonder how I got 48 on my website. :eek:

It's not short-spaced to those two, I'm trying to figure it out but I'm not seeing anything obvious...

- Trip

WJSP-DT has withdrawn their petition to move from DT-23 to DT-11. WTVM-DT paid them off.

I think WTVM needed it more. They were looking at 1kW on 9. WJSP is at a respectable 177kW on UHF, though 250+ would be better I'm sure. What's wrong with "donating" to PBS? ;)

Something must be preventing WJSP from moving back to 28 and it looks like WTTO.

WJSP just wanted a VHF like all the other GPB stations (except WNGH, which can't get one). It's a cost thing. They wouldn't have moved back to 28 even if WTTO-DT wasn't there.

I agree, WTVM-DT definitely needed it more, and there's nothing wrong with donating to PBS. I wonder why the FCC was so quick to issue an NPRM for WJSP's application though.

- Trip

FCC to Host Digital Television Transition Event in Wilmington:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-285177A1.pdf

Note that the decision to postpone Wilmington's analog shut-off, if needed, will be made no later than 2pm Sunday afternoon.

From Clovis, NM:

The FCC has dismissed a channel change petition from KVIH -- a satellite station of KVII in Amarillo, TX -- which sought to move KVIH from 20 to 12 post-transition.

Station owner Barrington Broadcasting had argued that due to wind load issues, it would have to operate DT 20 at a measly 0.26 kW for three to four months after the transition. However, FCC engineers determined that the proposed Channel 12 DT facility would leave about 11 percent of its current service area unserved, and the Media Bureau apparently decided that four months of low power is better than a permanent loss of service for that many of its viewers.

Link: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-2047A1.pdf

Ouch!

Their mistake was asking for only 1.5 kW. That would shrink their coverage from 82.2 km down to 64.6 km. They SHOULD have asked for 15 kW, which would have 100% replicated the digital coverage area (82.2 km on the dot).

Wonder if they'll refile.

- Trip

Their mistake was asking for only 1.5 kW. That would shrink their coverage from 82.2 km down to 64.6 km. They SHOULD have asked for 15 kW, which would have 100% replicated the digital coverage area (82.2 km on the dot).


I hope the FCC knows better than to try and apply the same logic to stations trying to move off of Low-VHF, because the resulting contour is insufficient. Much more is involved than looking at contour plots, though KVIH could argue that VHF/12 would be more effective in mountainous areas, but probably not at 1.5kW.

No, they know that. When moving from low-VHF, the argument is that the coverage is not as large as predicted due to noise and whatnot. WBRA-DT argued that areas within the coverage area can't even see it (which is true).

But when you move from UHF to upper-VHF, coverage isn't supposed to shrink. And they especially don't like it when it shrinks by that huge number. In the dismissal document, they note a decrease of more than 11%. That's pretty significant. I can't imagine them looking at that too positively.

- Trip

TS Hanna has been mostly a bust for the Carolina coast. Not much worse than a winter northeaster. Lots of rain with some wind. It could have been a lot worse than what it was. Mostly a rain soaker and we do need the rain. The state has been in a fairly bad drought for the last couple of years and with the rain we got from Fay last week and Hanna this week, the eastern half of the state should be back to normal yearly levels of rain. Overnight, in my own yard 175 miles NW inland from Wilmington, we have had over an inch of rain with winds calm with gusts to 30 mph in heavy rain bands. Even Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel at Atlantic Beach just off Morehead City, commented early this morning that the winds were not bad for a storm like this and not much rain. Atlantic Beach is a southern facing beach on the dreaded eastern side of the storm. That is why they go to Atlantic Beach and Wrightsville Beach, another southern facing beach. Those get the worst damage from northern moving storms. Western moving storms, Hatteras and Manteo are the favorites of the news media. Most damage to be had.

If Ike continues on its westerly track, I see no reason to slip in the Wilmington launch on Monday. The usual flooding in Raleigh from heavy rain storms like this will cause more damage than has been done in the Wilmington area so far. Like I said, Hanna has been a bust for NC.

I'm a bit closer to the center of the storm than you, but I would agree with your assessment. I can only assume that all the wet , moving vegitation is giving me all kinds of grief trying to receive OTA (lots of "stop-motion", some minor pixelation, lots of audio pops).

There is a distinct difference in how various tuners handle adverse conditions. Surprisingly, I'd say my Philco TB100HH9 seems to be handling this the best, then my Samsung, then my Olevia 232T TV, and my bedroom TV just can't hold on to enough signal to process.

I was in the worst of the storm, and both the Wilmington, and Greenville/New Bern/Washington NC channels provided outstanding DTV reception even with 50 MPH winds and higher gusts. My antenna was only about 20 ft high too.

I have a quick question and perhaps I've been making bad assumptions on Radio Mobile. Does the FCC use ERP or EIRP for their calculations/licenses, etc.? It looks like Radio Mobile defaults to EIRP, but that may not be what I want. Thanks.

Radio Mobile? Not following. Microwave and above stuff uses EIRP and most everything else ERP. Does that answer your question? If not, I am lost and just ignore me! :D

Radio Mobile? Not following. Microwave and above stuff uses EIRP and most everything else ERP. Does that answer your question? If not, I am lost and just ignore me! :D

Radio Mobile is a program that can be used for generating coverage maps and signal paths and all kinds of things. I have yet to figure out just how to make it work.

On another note, I've finally gotten 100% caught up on my Digital Transitional Reports. That took forever.

I also added a new page on my site, featuring two maybe-useful calculators: http://www.rabbitears.info/calc.php I was up til 5AM this morning figuring out how to code in JavaScript so I could make that work the way I wanted.

The first one will take a field value number from a station's directional pattern along with the maximum ERP and tell you the ERP you're receiving in your direction.

The second one will tell you what the maximum power allowed for a given height is (ignoring 73.622(f)(5) which allows stations to match the coverage of the largest station in the market). So if you put in Zone 2, Channel 15, at 2000 feet, you get about 316 kW, which is the theoretical limit. Of course, 73.622(f)(5) overrules it in almost every market, but it might be useful for VHFs or something.

- Trip

Radio Mobile is a program that can be used for generating coverage maps and signal paths and all kinds of things.

DUH! I was thinking it was a service the FCC regulated!

Radio Mobile? Not following. Microwave and above stuff uses EIRP and most everything else ERP.

Radio Mobile defaults to EIRP for its calculations (see the attached example), but it appears to be designed for microwave use. I should probably be using an antenna gain of 2.15dB to get the system to use ERP instead.

So, when the FCC uses ERP, they really mean ERP and there is not a hidden "I" in there, but rather a "D," right? i.e. E(D)RP vs. EIRP

WECT Wilmington has a web page with "Big Switch Minutes" on it about the transition. Looks interesting.

http://www.wect.com/Global/category.asp?C=136851&nav=menu157_1_2

Sister WSFX only had a countdown clock on the top of the page.

WWAY had nothing I could find that mentioned the transition, but it is pretty cluttered page so I might have missed it.

WILM had a large box at the top of their page announcing they were on the air digitally and a separate page for the transition.

http://www.wilm-tv.com/

Foxeng,

WWAY just added an announcement at the top of the site, four minutes after your post!:D

www.wwaytv3.com

WECT is streaming their on live air signal on their website for the 12 noon transition with a special. http://www.wect.com

Posted this idea in the Wilmington, NC thread in response to Falcon_77:

"Too much to expect to ask the stations to shut down the live analog feed a week early and go entirely to a static screen informing the analog viewers what to do. Can't cut into that advertising revenue after all. But I think as the shutdown date draws near, maybe within the last week cutting into the analog broadcasts only for 1 to 3 minutes at a time with a warning screen or short video clip that if you are seeing this, you are not ready for the impending shutdown. Stations should do this right smack in the middle of Oprah, daytime shows, primetime shows, whatever. It will make some people angry, but it will get their attention. The stations doing early shutdowns should do this as well in the week before. A lot of people will ignore the scrolling warning message at the bottom of the screen (not everyone will be able to read the messages)."

What are stations planning to do in the immediate days before they pull the plug on the analog, either at midnight on 2/17 or earlier? I suspect something that may come out of the Wilmington shutdown is the need to more aggressively get the analog viewers attention in the final days. 30 second clips during commercial breaks or scrolling messages won't be enough.

Starting in January stations should run nonstop crawls. Even during the Superbowl. The crawls should only be on the analog signal. The stations should make sure that all cable systems and both satellite companies are converting/downrezzing the digital signal for analog cable or SD digital cable or satellite (unless of course they are providing a direct station to headend signal). Ban any and all retransmission of the analog OTA signal so absolutely nobody except OTA viewers will see the crawls.

Starting in January stations should run nonstop crawls. Even during the Superbowl. The crawls should only be on the analog signal. The stations should make sure that all cable systems and both satellite companies are converting/downrezzing the digital signal for analog cable or SD digital cable or satellite (unless of course they are providing a direct station to headend signal). Ban any and all retransmission of the analog OTA signal so absolutely nobody except OTA viewers will see the crawls.

I like that idea - at least it will catch peoples attention. And make the crawls 24/7.

WMDT in Salisbury MD is cutting off their analog signal on 9/20 and switching their digital signal from 53.1, which was low powered, to 47.1 which will be full power.

Article (http://www.wmdt.com/DTV/index.htm)

There isn't an active local thread for Salisbury (2 years since last post) and yet theres been so much change in just the last month with WBOC 's news going HD and now this, tis a shame.

There isn't an active local thread for Salisbury (2 years since last post) and yet theres been so much change in just the last month with WBOC 's news going HD and now this, tis a shame.
Ask the moderators to unlock the Salisbury, MD DMA thread if they can and post to it. Or start a new Salisbury, MD thread where you own the first 2-3 postings so you can maintain updated station status info at the start of the thread.

And now we know.

This morning, filings came in with interference acceptance agreements.

WXMI-DT and the WPXD-19 petition (contingent on the grant of WISE-DT's move to 18)

WTTV-DT, WDRB-DT, and the WSYX-48 petition. (It was WTTV that was causing it to be delayed, apparently)

So maybe we'll see both of those petitions granted NPRMs very soon.

- Trip

Starting in January stations should run nonstop crawls. Even during the Superbowl. The crawls should only be on the analog signal. The stations should make sure that all cable systems and both satellite companies are converting/downrezzing the digital signal for analog cable or SD digital cable or satellite (unless of course they are providing a direct station to headend signal). Ban any and all retransmission of the analog OTA signal so absolutely nobody except OTA viewers will see the crawls.

This is an interesting idea but does rely on the assumption local stations have sufficient redundancy in their control rooms to provide separate feeds. That's not an assumption I would make.

This is an interesting idea but does rely on the assumption local stations have sufficient redundancy in their control rooms to provide separate feeds. That's not an assumption I would make.

My thoughts exactly.

I LOVE Desert Hawk's idea, but I'm afraid that a lot of stations won't be able to do it.

Already there are quite a few stations set up so that the feed to their analog transmitter is nothing but a center cut and downrez of their feed to their digital transmitter.

KPNX in Phoenix is turning off their analog transmitter on 12 for an hour tonight to test out their new DTV transmitter for post-transition use.
Info (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14626688#post14626688)

I haven't seen any other stations publicly announcing tests and asking for feedback like this, but hopefully others will follow in KPNX's footsteps to make sure everything will go seamlessly come February.

KSTW in Tacoma/Seattle did it last weekend I think.

- Trip

I haven't seen any other stations publicly announcing tests and asking for feedback like this, but hopefully others will follow in KPNX's footsteps to make sure everything will go seamlessly come February.

I am not at the liberty to speak, but it will be more common than you think.

I am not at the liberty to speak, but it will be more common than you think.

Would it be safe to assume that these generally won't be announced publicly, at least not with ample warning for us to check them out?

Would it be safe to assume that these generally won't be announced publicly, at least not with ample warning for us to check them out?

Some will, some won't. It will depend on what each station is trying to accomplish and if the station has been in communications with its digital viewers in the past. Remember the cablecos and sat are pushing these stations to do some kind of test prior to Feb 17 so they can check their equipment. Some will be able to, some will not. There is more here than meets the eye.

Some will, some won't. It will depend on what each station is trying to accomplish and if the station has been in communications with its digital viewers in the past. Remember the cablecos and sat are pushing these stations to do some kind of test prior to Feb 17 so they can check their equipment. Some will be able to, some will not. There is more here than meets the eye.

I assume any such test would have to be cleared by the FCC, right? It doesn't seem to me the FCC is going to be too crazy about folks testing something that so far seems to have gone flawlessly for the stations that have already done it.

I assume any such test would have to be cleared by the FCC, right? It doesn't seem to me the FCC is going to be too crazy about folks testing something that so far seems to have gone flawlessly for the stations that have already done it.

As long as a station has a valid construction permit and just about all stations now have either a license to cover or a CP, the station can do what it takes without further FCC authority including bringup up a digital transmitter on an analog channel in the middle of the day for a short test in connection with that CP, as long as it doesn't cause interference to other stations. (SIDEBAR - The FCC has always set aside midnight to 6AM local as a testing period for all broadcast stations AM/FM/TV, even daytime only AM stations at daytime power levels, for testing and RF equipment adjustment without futher authority.) And BELIEVE ME, the FCC would be THRILLED BEYOND BELIEF if more stations WOULD just go ahead and transition prior February 17 and not wait until the last minute. That is why the FCC has given all the stations HUGE latitude pre-transition and NO latitude post transition to try and force stations to go ahead and just do it. But as we have seen, not many are willing to do that until forced to.

Also remember the rest of the country WILL NOT be getting the kind of support Wilmington got from the FCC and equipment manufacturers and retailers (that is something the FCC has tried to impart on stations as well). Too much area, not enough people and not enough time now. The FCC will do what they can, but the FCC is a department of only several thousand to do everything the FCC does besides broadcast TV. They just can't do it all.

As long as a station has a valid construction permit and just about all stations now have either a license to cover or a CP

So, basically your CP is your permission slip. Fair enough. Good info.

So, basically your CP is your permission slip. Fair enough. Good info.

You can do whatever it takes as long as you follow what the CP says.

Remember NO ONE can build a station without permission. The CP gives that permission and the parameters under which that station can be built, including location, antenna height, antenna gain, ERP power, and hours of operation for testing during the construction (now a days imposed on a rare occassion like only when some other country is involded or the station is doing something out of the ordinary and the FCC needs additional information once the construction is completed from certain tests, stuff like that). Once the station is constructed and FCC Form 302 (request for a license to cover the construction) has been submitted, the CP becomes the stations authorization to operate as if a license had been issued (called Program Test Authority). It is only good until the FCC adjudicates the 302, even if the expiration date on the CP has past. And if the 302 is approved then the station is issued a "License to Cover," meaning the station is now licensed and the legal FCC proceedings are over. If not, for whatever reason, the station has to shut down (or do what the FCC says to come into compliance) until it is authorized operation again either by a modified CP or a License to Cover. Of course if the CP authorizies a station for only 100,000 watts, they can't just turn on 500,000 watts because it is a test period. Yes, as long as you stay within the confines of the CP (or license), do what you want, when you want. No only is that valid for digital TV, but all broadcast services, AM/FM/TV.

You can do whatever it takes as long as you follow what the CP says.

So, to continue the hall pass metaphor, it's more like a doctor's excuse for a kid on half days with mono who isn't allowed to take gym class.

NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NEWS MEDIA CONTACT
September 10, 2008 Robert Kenny: 202-418-2668
Email: Robert.Kenny@fcc.gov
Clyde Ensslin: 202-418-0506
Email: Clyde.Ensslin@fcc.gov
VAST MAJORITY OF WILMINGTON, NC RESIDENTS WERE AWARE OF THE
EARLY DIGITAL TELEVISION TRANSITION IN THEIR VIEWING AREA
Washington, D.C. – Based on consumer calls received by the Federal Communications
Commission on the first day after the digital television (DTV) transition in the five-county
Wilmington television market, the vast majority of the 400,000 television viewers impacted by the
change were aware of the transition and seemed to be prepared for it.
FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin said, “The results of the digital television switch in
Wilmington shows that the collective efforts of the Commission, the community and industry to
inform viewers of the early transition in this local market were effective.” Chairman Martin noted,
“The vast majority of Wilmington-area viewers were aware of the transition and more than 28,000
converter box coupons were redeemed.”
“While we believe that the transition in Wilmington is going smoothly, the measure of
success in Wilmington is what is going to happen next February, and what we are able to learn from
this experience and how we apply those lessons as we move this effort across the country,”
Chairman Martin said.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its local partners are providing
assistance to Wilmington-area residents who call the Commission’s toll-free DTV Transition
helpline - 1-877-388-0908. In addition to the call center, Chairman Martin has assembled teams of
Commission engineers and outreach staff to assist Wilmington-area callers with their individual
questions and needs.
The 400,000 viewers in the Wilmington area represent an estimated 180,000 households, of
which nearly 14,000 receive free over-the-air television programming with roof-top antennas or
“rabbit-ears.” During the first day of the transition, approximately 800 (797) area residents or less
than one-half of one percent of area homes called the FCC helpline asking questions and seeking
help with the switch-over to digital television. On September 9, the second day of the transition, the
number of calls decreased by almost 50 percent from the first day to 424.
Based on calls to the FCC helpline through the first day, most consumers were aware of and
ready for the transition. The Commission’s helpline received just 23 calls from consumers who said
they were not aware of the switch to digital television and/or did not know the date of the transition.
Chairman Martin directed his team of engineers and outreach staff to identify and
understand the problems viewers were facing and work to resolve them to the extent possible.
These FCC teams are already working to assist residents in resolving their problems. A significant
number of consumers who called the helpline with converter box, reception or other technical issues
have already had their issues resolved.
Specifically, more than 160 calls were from viewers who had initial difficulty in setting up
their converter boxes properly. For example, consumers had difficulty understanding the
instructions for setting up the converter box and scanning for channels. Seventy-five of these
consumers were successfully guided through the installation process by call-takers and were able to
view channels after re-scanning their televisions.
Of the total number of calls to the helpline, 178 were by viewers who were experiencing
problems with their television reception or had other technical issues. We were able to resolve
reception and other technical issues for 22 of the 178 consumers by explaining where the
broadcasters’ new digital channels are located, helping them re-scan channels, and/or by assisting
them with re-positioning or adjusting their antennas. We are continuing to work with these viewers
to understand and resolve their issues.
A significant number of calls (232) were related to the viewer’s inability to locate the
Wilmington NBC affiliate. Prior to the digital switch, the Wilmington NBC affiliate signal was
available to viewers outside the television market as far south as Myrtle Beach, SC and as far north
as Raleigh, NC. The Wilmington NBC affiliate’s new coverage area does not include these out of
market communities. Some of these complaints were from these viewers who will continue to
receive their local NBC affiliates in Myrtle Beach and Raleigh. The Commission is continuing to
work with those residents who have unresolved reception problems.
The early switch to digital in Wilmington is helping the Commission to identify, understand
and resolve problems such as those experienced by consumers calling the FCC helpline and will
ultimately better prepare us for the national DTV transition in February 2009.
The following is an overview and analysis of the consumer calls received by the FCC on the
first day of the DTV Transition in Wilmington, NC. A breakdown of the second day will be
provided shortly.
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 9
They were unaware of the correct transition date 5
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 9
Subtotal: 23
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 24
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 4
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 3
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 31
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 5
Subtotal: 67
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 27
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 59
The retail store was out of boxes 1
Subtotal: 87
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 27
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 34
Their converter box "didn't work" 100
Subtotal: 161
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 33
Problem with channel or call sign 85
Weak or spotty signal 60
Subtotal: 178
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 232
Subtotal: 232
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 22
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 14
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 6
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 7
Subtotal: 49
Total 797
-FCC-
News and information about the Federal Communications Commission is available at www.fcc.gov.

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. Changed KSTU-DT's DTV channel from 13 to 28. Terminated the proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11472, 08-144). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/03/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2066). MB DA-08-2066A1.doc DA-08-2066A1.pdf DA-08-2066A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), FREEPORT, ILLINOIS. Proposed substituting DTV channel 41 for DTV channel 23 for station WIFR-DT. (Dkt No. RM-11467, 08-135). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/08/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2067). MB DA-08-2067A1.doc DA-08-2067A1.pdf DA-08-2067A1.txt

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. Changed KSTU-DT's DTV channel from 13 to 28. Terminated the proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11472, 08-144). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/03/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2066). MB DA-08-2066A1.doc DA-08-2066A1.pdf DA-08-2066A1.txt


This means Salt Lake City itself will remain UHF only, though the entire DMA will not be. However, it appears to be the largest DMA in the 48 states, with some VHF stations hundreds of miles away.

Is there a map which shows the exact boundaries of the DMA's? The best I can find is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market

CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 33
Problem with channel or call sign 85
Weak or spotty signal 60
Subtotal: 178

Are these responses within the Wilmington DMA, since the ones complaining from outside have their own category. Which DMA is a city like Laurinburg actually in? In other words, they probably should be complaining to their station to add a translator there.

Looking at the DMA's on the spreadsheet, I show WUNU in Florence and WFPX in Raleigh. Considering both are in the same county, Robeson, I probably need to fix this. However, it is the COL, not the county that matters, or is it?

This means Salt Lake City itself will remain UHF only, though the entire DMA will not be. However, it appears to be the largest DMA in the 48 states, with some VHF stations hundreds of miles away.

Is there a map which shows the exact boundaries of the DMA's? The best I can find is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market

http://www.truckads.com/licensed_affiliates1.asp#usamap

Click on the map and it'll take you to a detailed map of which counties are in which DMA.

- Trip

http://www.truckads.com/licensed_affiliates1.asp#usamap

Click on the map and it'll take you to a detailed map of which counties are in which DMA.

- Trip

Thanks! This is great to finally have, though I guess it means I'm going to have to do a lot of checking now. :D

So, it is by the county that the City of License is in (not necessarily the same as the tower), right?

Thanks! This is great to finally have, though I guess it means I'm going to have to do a lot of checking now. :D

So, it is by the county that the City of License is in (not necessarily the same as the tower), right?

Yes, though there are exceptions. I think KPBI in Eureka Springs MO, while technically in the Springfield MO DMA, is counted as part of the Fort Smith/Fayetteville DMA under a waiver from the FCC. That's what I've heard, anyway.

- Trip

The 400,000 viewers in the Wilmington area represent an estimated 180,000 households, of which nearly 14,000 receive free over-the-air television programming with roof-top antennas or “rabbit-ears.”
During the first day of the transition, approximately 800 (797) area residents or less than one-half of one percent of area homes called the FCC helpline asking questions and seeking help with the switch-over to digital television ....
... On September 9, the second day of the transition, the
number of calls decreased by almost 50 percent from the first day to 424.....


797+424 = 1221

1221 = 8.72% of 14,000 (predicted) OTA Household users in first two days have called ..

That doesn't sound quite as good as "less than 1/2 of 1 percent of all area homes" or for the second day, "number of calls decreased by 50%", does it ?

Also Wonder how many are having or whom are going to have problems(especially ones which aren't easily solved) aren't going to call/haven't called yet?


... Of the total number of calls to the helpline, 178 were by viewers who were experiencing problems with their television reception or had other technical issues. We were able to resolve reception and other technical issues for 22 of the 178 consumers by explaining where the broadcasters’ new digital channels are located, helping them re-scan channels, and/or by assisting them with re-positioning or adjusting their antennas. We are continuing to work with these viewers to understand and resolve their issues.


That last part sounds good, but I think it would have been even better if they had started doing that (the "understand" and "resolve" part, especially) many years ago ....

After the WYDO filing by WRAL last week, there's another opposition filing this week.

WDSE in Duluth MN has filed comments opposing the petition to relocate KTCI-DT from 26 to 38, suggesting the FCC instead grant them channel 25. Apparently, WDSE wants to use their existing channel 38 equipment for a new non-commercial station so as to be able to transmit more subchannels (and give more bandwidth to the HD), and if KTCI gets channel 38, they won't be able to afford to replace the equipment and get another channel.

Full document: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520066205

Does the FCC generally accept arguments like that? I'd be interested to see if they do so in this case. Personally, I'd like to see WDSE get their wish, as the channel 25 allocation for KTCI seems like a win-win to me. WDSE gets their shot at DT-38 and KTCI gets an even larger coverage area.

- Trip

If you here anymore about WYDO, be sure to pass it on. It should be interesting I think.

Are these responses within the Wilmington DMA, since the ones complaining from outside have their own category. Which DMA is a city like Laurinburg actually in? In other words, they probably should be complaining to their station to add a translator there.

Laurinburg is 100 miles from Wilmington. I am not sure if Laurinburg is in the Florence/Myrtle Beach or the Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville Market. I think it changes every so often depending on the ratings of stations. Logically it should be Florence/Myrtle Beach, but the Raleigh market stations lobby hard for counties along the SC/NC border and get them. The NBC station in the Raleigh market is Media General's WNCN Raleigh (licensed to Goldsboro) analog 17.

Looking at the DMA's on the spreadsheet, I show WUNU in Florence and WFPX in Raleigh. Considering both are in the same county, Robeson, I probably need to fix this. However, it is the COL, not the county that matters, or is it?

COL county usually.

OK, hang on for a history lesson of the area. It has been through a lot in the last 50 years of TV.

WFPX (formally WFCT Ind) 62 is not a powerful station. 933 kW on an 800 ft tower. WFPX was built to cover Fayetteville and nothing else around 1980 and that is about all it covers. It was originally licensed to Lumber Bridge (a crossroads south of Fayetteville because the FCC wouldn't issue a another license to Fayetteville at the time and the transmitter is still there) and was later changed to Fayetteville when the FCC relaxed COL requirements. WUNU (UNC PBS) is licensed to Lumberton with tower east of St Paul. Both towers are in Robeson County (pronounced ROBB es son, short O just so you know) and is intended to cover the area between Fayetteville and Wilmington down toward the SC border over to Laurinburg. Fayetteville gets is UNC PBS from WUNC 4 Chapel Hill and Wilmington has WUNJ 39. I also think I just figured out why UNC didn't want to participate in the early transition. Their month long fund raising campaign started Sunday night! Cynical, aren't I!! ;)

Remember one thing, when WWAY and WECT went on the air, it was the Fayetteville/Wilmington market including Laurinburg on the extreme western edge and the Raleigh stations were too weak to make it to Fayetteville in those days. Everything centered on those two towns and Fayetteville had a short lived channel 18 (WFLB-TV) in the early 50's and didn't get another station until the late 70's, WKFT (now WUVC) Ind 40. CBS was a secondary network between WWAY and WECT well into the late 80's when WJKA 26 (now WSFX FOX) was the short lived CBS affiliate in Wilmington. Fayetteville got their CBS and ABC from Raleigh in the mid to late 70's when WRAL (ABC at the time) CBS and WTVD (CBS at the time) ABC put up 2000 ft towers a mile a part southwest of Raleigh about 50 miles N of Fayetteville, but WECT remained the NBC affiliate for Fayetteville because WRDU 28 (now WRDC) was too week to get out of Durham. Even right through today NBC in Fayetteville is WECT even though it is a below the line station. WNCN has no where near the ratings WECT does in Fayetteville, nor coverage but cable has been a huge boost, but if I remember, WECT is also on the cable system there as a significantly viewed station. TV in the Wilmington area early on consisted of WWAY ABC, WECT NBC and and an extremely weak WBTW 13 CBS and only 60 miles away. WPDE (15) ABC didn't come on the air until the late 70's and doesn't come close to Wilmington. WBTW and WPDE are now in the Florence/Myrtle Beach SC DMA aong with the brand new WMBF-DT NBC Myrtle Beach.

Nothing is ever easy around here it is it?!

WTVF Nashville did it a few months ago (see Nashville thread), and a DXer in Kentucky caught them in digital mode on ch. 5 again one night last week.

I think you can expect quite a few of the stations that are moving to new channels will be testing the new channels in advance. Especially those stations that are moving to their current analog channels. (as they don't have to worry about interfering with anyone)

797+424 = 1221

1221 = 8.72% of 14,000 (predicted) OTA Household users in first two days have called ..

That doesn't sound quite as good as "less than 1/2 of 1 percent of all area homes" or for the second day, "number of calls decreased by 50%", does it ?

Also Wonder how many are having or whom are going to have problems(especially ones which aren't easily solved) aren't going to call/haven't called yet?



That last part sounds good, but I think it would have been even better if they had started doing that (the "understand" and "resolve" part, especially) many years ago ....



I have to believe this is only part of the story. What about the calls to the tv stations, or local tv repair, and antenna installation companies, or even satellite installers etc who is tracking all these calls? Even neighbor or family members that got calls to help them out.

The plain and simple truth is they have no accurate way to really tell just how many calls were really made, so stay tuned Feb. 17 09 is getting closer, and those in the business I hope you have your plans in place and are ready to "burn the midnight oil".

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520067415

WYDO's reply to WRAL's comments regarding WYDO's request to locate on channel 47.

- Trip

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6520067415

WYDO's reply to WRAL's comments regarding WYDO's request to locate on channel 47.

- Trip

Not a bad comeback.

In my opinion, the FCC has given WRAL a raw deal in many ways. Here was a station willing to put hard money down to help advance the FCC's cause when no one else was willing to even listen. In return, the FCC put WRAL-DT on an out of core channel and then has made them jump through all kinds of hoops (6 party, just about every TV station in the market, interference agreement just to get channel 48 issued to WRAL for post transition) just to get back in core. WRAL's analog channel is 5. It is interesting to note that Esteem was one of the parties in that 6 way agreement that WRAL needed to get WRAL on channel 48 because Esteem's WCTI-DT pre-transition operates on channel 48 and will be moving back to their analog channel, 12 allowing WRAL to move to 48. Without WCTI-DT moving back to 12, WRAL doesn't get 48, period. They were the last link in the chain of events that had to happen for WRAL. Is that anyway for the FCC to treat a station that was helping them in the beginning?

Now I have no dog in this fight, and it doesn't matter to me how the FCC rules on this WYDO-DT application, but the fact that WRAL has had to once again weight in trying to protect itself is reason enough why most stations are usually not in the habit of trying to help the FCC voluntarily and usually fight and kick most any kind of FCC change. It usually means trouble for stations and you can see why here. "Hi! I am from the government! I am here to help!" is usually a reason to run for the hills.

With the focus on Wilmington, I was not tracking KIXE's flash-cut to 9 on 8/22. They have quite a bit of info here, but I will have to see if I can find any local reports on how 9 is working for them.

http://www.kixe.org/node/1357

I also need to see how the Nebraska PBS early F/C's are going. Anyone else seen any news on that? Their website has no new info that I can see.

http://www.netnebraska.org/extras/dtv/

FYI, here's what the DT subchannel setup on UNC-TV's Network of Stations will look like beginning Sept. 25th from Wayne Estabrooks (Engineering Specialist):

**********


Mr. *****,

If you are referring to over-the-air (OTA) digital reception with an
antenna, we are expecting to go to full time HD on the 25th of
September. This will result in 2 less subchannels overall.
The subchannel lineup for OTA will only have three subchannels. They
will be UNC-TV -1, UNC-KD -2 and UNC-NC -3.

Cable carriage will be mostly unchanged.

The UNC-TV -1 subchannel will be primarily HD 24/7 and the KD and NC
channels will be SD. The UNC-TV -1 channel will be in the HD format
full time but there will be some SD programs or widescreen SD programs
in the schedule. I hope this answers your questions but if not, please
feel free to e-mail me at westabrooks(*at*)unctv(*dot*)org or call me. Please also let us know where you are located and which UNC-TV station(s) you receive.

Wayne Estabrooks - Engineering Specialist
UNC Center for Public Television

With the focus on Wilmington, I was not tracking KIXE's flash-cut to 9 on 8/22. They have quite a bit of info here, but I will have to see if I can find any local reports on how 9 is working for them.

http://www.kixe.org/node/1357

I also need to see how the Nebraska PBS early F/C's are going. Anyone else seen any news on that? Their website has no new info that I can see.

http://www.netnebraska.org/extras/dtv/

Can't tell you anything about Nebraska, but I heard from some folks on this forum that KIXE-DT's DT-09 signal is stronger than its DT-18 signal was on their UHF antennas. Of course, it had only been a low-powered UHF signal, so...

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14585120#post14585120

That's the latest post in the Chico/Redding thread.

- Trip

FYI, here's what the DT subchannel setup on UNC-TV's Network of Stations will look like beginning Sept. 25th from Wayne Estabrooks (Engineering Specialist):

I thought Wayne had retired to his sailboat! I may need to call him then and say hi!

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), LONGVIEW, TEXAS. Changed KCEB-DT's DTV channel from 38 to 51. Terminated the proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11456, 08-112). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/09/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2065). MB DA-08-2065A1.doc DA-08-2065A1.pdf DA-08-2065A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), COLUMBUS, GEORGIA. Approved the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission (GPTC) and WTVM License Subsidiary, LLC's Joint Request for Approval of Request to Dismiss Petition for Rulemaking filed by GPTC. Dismissed the Petition for Rulemaking and terminated proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11475, 08-149). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/10/2008 by ORDER. (DA No. 08-2088). MB DA-08-2088A1.doc DA-08-2088A1.pdf DA-08-2088A1.txt

COMMISSIONER TATE TO VISIT MEMPHIS, TN, FOR DTV OUTREACH. Visit is Part of Nationwide Tour Focusing on Markets with High Levels of Over-the-Air Television Viewers. News Release MB. Contact Susan Fisenne at (202) 418-2502, email: Susan.Fisenne@fcc.gov DOC-285346A1.doc DOC-285346A1.pdf DOC-285346A1.txt

Wilmington, NC DTV Transition (September 10, 2008)
Overview of DTV Calls
Wilmington, NC Transition Calls from Third Day
Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 4
They were unaware of the correct transition date 9
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 13
Subtotal: 26
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 3
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 1
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 0
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 14
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 1
Subtotal: 19
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 9
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 20
The retail store was out of boxes 0
Subtotal: 29
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 13
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 8
Their converter box "didn't work" 8
Subtotal: 29
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 11
Problem with channel or call sign 25
Weak or spotty signal 42
Subtotal: 78
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 79
Subtotal: 79
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 18
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 0
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 1
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 2
Subtotal: 21
Total 281

Wilmington, NC DTV Transition (September 9, 2008)
Overview of DTV Calls
Wilmington, NC Transition Calls from Second Day
Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 10
They were unaware of the correct transition date 10
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 15
Subtotal: 35
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 19
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 4
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 4
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 19
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 11
Subtotal: 57
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 17
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 8
The retail store was out of boxes 0
Subtotal: 25
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 12
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 17
Their converter box "didn't work" 78
Subtotal: 107
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 42
Problem with channel or call sign 13
Weak or spotty signal 2
Subtotal: 57
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 124
Subtotal: 124
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 3
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 7
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 6
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 3
Subtotal: 19
Total 424

Thanks! This is great to finally have, though I guess it means I'm going to have to do a lot of checking now. :D

So, it is by the county that the City of License is in (not necessarily the same as the tower), right?

Want a screwy one close to home?

WEDW in Bridgeport (NY DMA) is in the Hartford/New Haven DMA :)

WEDW in Bridgeport (NY DMA) is in the Hartford/New Haven DMA :)

Bridgeport is in Fairfield County, which is part of the NYC DMA. I had WEDW in the Hartford DMA until I was advised to move it. Is there an exception for it that I should be aware of?

WSAH, also licensed to Bridgeport, has its tower to the NE of WEDW's tower and is in the NYC DMA. However, they are trying to move to the ESB, which would remove the confusion.

WEDW is in the NYC DMA.

- Trip

So it will be interesting to see what happens to WEDY 65/6 PBS New Haven . . .

My plan is to power it up when the FCC finally issues a license and leave it on, untouched, at least until I retire. Of course then, there's Z's wish to flip it on it's top and make it a 9 - move it to Norwich as a back-up for WEDN.

FYI, here's what the DT subchannel setup on UNC-TV's Network of Stations will look like beginning Sept. 25th from Wayne Estabrooks (Engineering Specialist):

**********

Wayne E. I thought he retired and was relaxing on his boat?

According to a post on one of the Wilmington area stations web-site, stores in that area are all sold out of outdoor style TV antennas!

Somewhat interesting conflict for a maximized power filing and a channel change petition that could affect reception in the western edges of the DC market. WDCW-DT CW 50 in Washington DC is currently operating at 125 kW on UHF 51 and will switch to UHF 50 next February, currently set to run at 122 kW ERP. In June, WDCW-DT filed a maximize power application for 1000 kW on UHF 50 post-transition which will improve OTA reception nicely.

However, both WWPX-DT Ion 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, WV and WETA-DT PBS 26 (UHF 27) in DC filed conflicting petitions in June to the FCC to move their post-transition channel to UHF 51. WWPX wants to move their antenna from west of Martinsburg some 35 miles south to a tower on the Blue Ridge east of Front Royal to operate at 860 kW on UHF 51. This would interfere with WDCW-DT's maximized power UHF 50 reception out in western Loudoun and Fauquier counties and west of the Blue Ridge because of the strong signal from UHF 51 and vice versa, for WWPX-DT reception closer to DC. I'm in eastern Loudoun county so this could affect me.

This week WDCW amended their maximized power application to submit a mutual interference acceptance between the two stations (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=675726). I'm guessing the reason that WDCW's agreed to the interference is that WWPX-DT's petition is holding up WDCW-DT's maximized power application and WDCW's owners do not think WWPX will get their petition granted.

The competing petition from WETA-DT is to move to UHF 51 at increased power compared to their UHF 27 ERP at the current location in NW DC. This would not create an interference issue as WETA-DT and WDCW-DT are co-located and would make for a more efficient post-transition allocation with four consecutive channels all from towers in NW DC: WRC-DT on UHF 48, WWTD-LP on 49 (which could presumably file to digital flash cut to 49 in the future), WDCW-DT on 50, WETA-DT on 51. Will be interesting to see if this plays out in a channel alignment that makes sense or not.

WRC-DT on UHF 48, WWTD-LP on 49 (which could presumably file to digital flash cut to 49 in the future), WDCW-DT on 50, WETA-DT on 51. Will be interesting to see if this plays out in a channel alignment that makes sense or not.Who was first to file? If I remember correctly, it was WETA, but I'm not sure. Regardless, I'm hoping that WETA wins here, as they should (even though they have way too many SD subchannels). Got two reasons for this.

The primary reason is because of WHAG in Hagerstown, MD (which is pretty close to DC, or at least close enough to create interference issues). For whatever reason, they couldn't flash-cut their analog signal on 25, so they picked "best available", which the FCC determined to be 26. WETA analog is on 26, and their digital is currently on 27 (and was scheduled to be that post-transition). You can imagine the interference issues here. The less interference in this area, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

And not only that, but the fact WWPX is on 12 equalled a pain for WJZ-DT in Baltimore (who has no SD subchannels). They wanted a crazy high-power omnidirectional signal on 13 post-transition, but to protect WWPX, WJZ had to purchase a directional antenna with a null to the west in order to maximize signal level elsewhere. If WJZ management finds out they wasted their money on a directional antenna (and have an unnecessarily weak signal to the west) because of some fickle station management, they'll be understandably pissed.

If ION wants to make money off of WWPX, how 'bout selling it to West Virginia's PBS operation? :) (I'm only one-eighth kidding; all they've got in Martinsburg, last I checked, is an analog translator on channel 50.)

Who was first to file? If I remember correctly, it was WETA, but I'm not sure. Regardless, I'm hoping that WETA wins here, as they should (even though they have way too many SD subchannels). Got two reasons for this.

It was WWPX-DT, if the place I'm looking on the FCC site is accurate. Which, of course, could be incorrect. I'd have to be less lazy and start looking at documents and whatnot.

The primary reason is because of WHAG in Hagerstown, MD (which is pretty close to DC, or at least close enough to create interference issues). For whatever reason, they couldn't flash-cut their analog signal on 25, so they picked "best available", which the FCC determined to be 26. WETA analog is on 26, and their digital is currently on 27 (and was scheduled to be that post-transition). You can imagine the interference issues here. The less interference in this area, the better, as far as I'm concerned.

Actually, it's not WHAG that's the issue, it's WFPT-DT on 28. And really, 26 was one of the most open channels for WHAG.

And not only that, but the fact WWPX is on 12 equalled a pain for WJZ-DT in Baltimore (who has no SD subchannels). They wanted a crazy high-power omnidirectional signal on 13 post-transition, but to protect WWPX, WJZ had to purchase a directional antenna with a null to the west in order to maximize signal level elsewhere. If WJZ management finds out they wasted their money on a directional antenna (and have an unnecessarily weak signal to the west) because of some fickle station management, they'll be understandably pissed.

If ION wants to make money off of WWPX, how 'bout selling it to West Virginia's PBS operation? :) (I'm only one-eighth kidding; all they've got in Martinsburg, last I checked, is an analog translator on channel 50.)

Stop reading my mind! I've been working on a proposal to the FCC which I sent to afiggatt which suggests this very thing!

I'm working on a proposal to send to the FCC which should satisfy all parties. Once I'm sure of it, I'll post it here, though if you want to see it in its current unfinished state, send me a PM and I'll link you.

- Trip

According to a post on one of the Wilmington area stations web-site, stores in that area are all sold out of outdoor style TV antennas!

They are probably LHU combos as well, aren't they? Stores seem to favor those even now, when most areas won't need Low-VHF. Wilmington only needs UHF, unless out of market stations are desired.

If ION wants to make money off of WWPX, how 'bout selling it to West Virginia's PBS operation? :) (I'm only one-eighth kidding; all they've got in Martinsburg, last I checked, is an analog translator on channel 50.)
The WV PBS operation has CPs for two digital translators out in the WV panhandle area: W08EE-D in Martinsburg, WV (with a very directional pattern) and W38EG-D which will cover much of the panhandle. But it would make sense for WV Public TV to buy WWPX-DT so they can have a proper full power station to cover that part of WV and surrounding MD and VA area. When the WV PBS system was put together in the 1960s and 70s, the population in the WV panhandle Jefferson, Berkley, and Morgan counties was much smaller than it is now. WV PBS could use to cover that area with a full power station. But most PBS operations are pretty strapped for funds these days so WV PBS probably can't afford to buy WWPX-DT.

Early this morning from 2:40 to 6 am, KGO-DT in San Francisco ran tests on their VHF digital transmitter from Sutro Tower. They signed off at 2:35 and turned off both the analog channel 7 and digital channel 24 transmitters. About 5 minutes later they came on the air with the channel 7 digital transmitter running 24 Kw into their analog antenna at 1670 feet HAAT. They will be using this antenna until a new one is installed along with all the other new antennas for the UHF digital stations next summer.

The digital stations are now using combiners into temporary antennas at about 1400 feet HAAT. When the analog transmitters are turned off in February they will remove all of the analog antennas and install new permanent antennas atop the tower. Check out http://www.larrykenney.com/sutrotwr.html for a look at both the present and future antenna configurations at Sutro Tower.

On channel 7-1 during the test KGO transmitted a couple of segments of a local HD program called "Eye On The Bay" over and over again along with occasional test signals. Across the top of the screen was a crawl announcing that this was a test of the digital transmitter on channel 7 and programming was being broadcast solely for test purposes. They also stated in the crawl that KGO-DT would be turning off the UHF channel 24 transmitter on February 17 along with the analog transmitter and would return to the air with this digital transmitter on channel 7. They had test bars on 7-2 and the normal Accu-Weather programming on 7-3 during the test.

I thought you might be interested in seeing the reception reports received on the local HD Yahoo Group as well as the SF AVS OTA Forum. According to a note from the KGO Director of Engineering this afternoon, it was a good test and they can now say for certain that they're truly ready for the big switch on Feb 17, 2009.

Here are the reception reports.

Larry
SF

- - - - - - - -

Alan, Pleasanton, 2:39 am: (About 40 miles east south east over a ridge of hills)

I am getting 7.1 7.2 & 7.3 here in Pleasanton now, Looks good. I see the banner announcing the test at the top of the screen. I did not check out the signal strenth of the UHF signal before but the Channel 7 digital is looking very good.

- - -

Bobby, Rohnert Park - 60 miles north of Sutro

I am/was receiving channel 7 digital at a signal strength of 57 to 63. It breaks up occasionally. While it is on, it looks very, very good.

The DishNet channel 7 has a yellow screen.

At this juncture, I am confident that all will be well in February. It's back to bed I go.

- - -

No joy here in Monterey with the low antenna, other than I can tell the analog is off.
I will monitor for a while, maybe they will up the power.
Please report if they do!!!
Keith

- - -

Alan, Pleasanton, 2:56 am:

I had a good signal when it first came on but now the power seems to be changing, The signal goes down and I loose it then it comes back up. Most of the time it's okay.

- - -

From San Jose:

I am getting a solid 69/70 signal using a CM4228 UHF antenna here in san jose (95125).
Going back to bed....

- - -

Kevin, San Jose:

I wasn't very optomistic since I only have a UHF antenna, but it seems to come in ok. Singal strength on 7 seems 10 to 20% lower than what I get on 24, but it seems stable. That's not bad for a poorly mounted CM 4228 UHF antenna at about 45 miles.

I think they could have used some proof readers "of the" message so it "will ready" for broadcast.

kevin

- - -

George, San Francisco:

I see an HD program "View From The Bay" and occasional color bars with the scrolling bar at the top, so I guess I'm watching the channel 7 digital transmitter. 7-2 also has color bars, and 7-3 has the normal AccuWeather programming.

Channel 24 is off the air.

I'm getting it fine on all my receivers... but I should at 3/4 of a mile from the tower. :) I had to scan for 7 on all of my receivers. None of them got the new digital signal automatically.

- - -

MattThomas, location not mentioned:

I'm happy to report that I got a solid lock for channel 7 with my
VHF antenna cut for channel 12:

2008-09-14 03:21:40 KGO7 ch=8vsb:7 lock=8vsb ss=100 snq=72 seq=100
bps=19392576 pps=1842
2008-09-14 03:21:41 KGO7 ch=8vsb:7 lock=8vsb ss=100 snq=72 seq=100
bps=19391072 pps=1842
2008-09-14 03:21:42 KGO7 ch=8vsb:7 lock=8vsb ss=100 snq=72 seq=100
bps=19392576 pps=1842
2008-09-14 03:21:43 KGO7 ch=8vsb:7 lock=8vsb ss=100 snq=72 seq=100
bps=19392576 pps=1842
2008-09-14 03:21:44 KGO7 ch=8vsb:7 lock=8vsb ss=100 snq=72 seq=100
bps=19392576 pps=1842

I'm receiving View-On-The-Bay in HD just fine and occasionally a 480p
test pattern.

The VHF antenna is a Winegard 3113 cut for 10/11/12 operation
connected to a CM7777 preamp.

- - -

Nick Sayer, Santa Clara: (About 45 miles southeast of Sutro)

My logging program last night noted the dropping of the channel 24 signal and change
from NTSC to ATSC on 7. For the duration of the test, my HD HomeRun reported a signal strength of about 100 and a quality of about 68. That makes the reception almost identical to KNTV-DT. I suspect the quality is low due to multipath. My antenna is a Y5-7-13, but it is pointed towards Fremont Peak for KSBW and KCBA. I am relieved that it will aparently work that way for KGO on 2/17. The only potential problem now will be KSBW and KGO being on adjacent channels, but I don't think KSBW will be so weak that that will have an impact.

- - -

Chuck, Mountain Ranch: (About 115 miles east northeast of Sutro Tower)
I wanted to see if I could receive KGO here in central Calaveras County so I got up at 3 am. Unfortunately the conditions were unfavorable to Mt. Sutro. KQED was weak and very multipathy and KGO-DT on 7 looked the same way on my spectrum analyzer. OTOH, KNTV-DT 12 from Mt. San Bruno was signal quality 95, a ridiculously strong signal! I have a feeling that 24KW isn't going to cut it for me.

My ability to receive Mt. Sutro UHF stations is directly proportional to the frequency. KGO-DT on 24 is in here at least 50% of the time while it is an extremely rare occurrence to receive KTVU or KRON on 56 and 57.

Chuck

- - -

84 miles from Sutro - location not given:
Woke up at 3:00 AM to see if channel 7 would come in. Rescanned for 7
on all three of my digital tuners (Dish 622, DTV Pal converter and
Samsung plasma) and it came in fine on all three. Signal strength was
mid 60's which is typical at my location--84 miles from Sutro. KNTV
was slightly higher; other SF UHF channels were in the 70's and 80's.

It appears that I will not need a VHF antenna post transition. The
XG91 with the CM7777 preamp covers all the channels.

- - -

From Fairfield: (55 miles from Sutro on the other side of 1000' mountains)

I could not get KGO-DT this morning. I scanned my tv several times with no luck. I dont understand how I get KRON-DT but not the other bay area stations in high def.

- - -

Jim, Sunnyvale: (About 45 miles from Sutro Tower)

I was up for the test - from 3:30 - 4:00 got a solid channel 7 signal
near Fremont&Mary in Sunnyvale using a Zenith DTT901 connected to an
old 7-element corner reflector UHF only antenna (no pre-amp) mounted
about 10 feet above single story roof. Signal meter on the Zenith
showed about 1 unit stronger than chan 12 (KNTV), about 75-80% of the
way up the scale.

- - -

Thank you for the reports. It looks like some UHF only antennas are doing ok, but most of the reports are well away from Sutro Tower. I would be curious to see more reports in the city, but most people downtown probably gave up on OTA a long time ago.

Did you need to make any adjustments or was reception ok with the antenna for KNTV? Did you have time to try KGO with a UHF antenna?

I have not been able to get any dates on similar tests in LA. The one station that responded could not confirm if they were even going to be doing a test like this.

I would be curious to see more reports in the city, but most people downtown probably gave up on OTA a long time ago.

Did you need to make any adjustments or was reception ok with the antenna for KNTV? Did you have time to try KGO with a UHF antenna?


I'm 3/4 of a mile directly east from Sutro and the signal looked really good on my SR-15 UHF antenna pointed at the tower that's tied in with the 10 element channel 12 antenna pointed at Mt. San Bruno with a Jointenna. I switched to the CM4228 and it was even higher quality. I did a 360 degree rotation of the 4228 and it didn't seem to make much difference where it was pointed, except for direct north and south. I actually nulled the signal at about 0 and 180 degrees off the sides of the antenna.

This phenomenon is not new to me. KNTV 12, 5 miles away, comes in well throughout about 3/4 of the 360 circle. The 4228 is not very directional for VHF.

I tried an old pair of rabbit ears, too. Signal was solid.

I didn't think I'd have any problems at this close distance, and I didn't.

Larry
SF

They are probably LHU combos as well, aren't they? Stores seem to favor those even now, when most areas won't need Low-VHF. Wilmington only needs UHF, unless out of market stations are desired.

Don't know. The person that made the post siad they had rabbit ears, and they weren't enough, so they tried to find an "outdoor" antenna, and the stores were sold out. THey are probably talking about Radio Shack and/or Lowes...

Wilmington, NC DTV Transition (September 12, 2008)
Overview of DTV Calls
Wilmington, NC Transition Calls from Fifth Day
Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 0
They were unaware of the correct transition date 2
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 3
Subtotal: 5
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 2
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 1
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 0
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 1
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 0
Subtotal: 4
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 1
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 18
The retail store was out of boxes 1
Subtotal: 20
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 2
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 3
Their converter box "didn't work" 3
Subtotal: 8
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 26
Problem with channel or call sign 3
Weak or spotty signal 5
Subtotal: 34
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 42
Subtotal: 42
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 7
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 1
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 0
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 0
Subtotal: 8
Total 121

Wilmington, NC DTV Transition (September 11, 2008)
Overview of DTV Calls
Wilmington, NC Transition Calls from Fourth Day
Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 0
They were unaware of the correct transition date 0
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital 2
Subtotal: 2
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 8
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade 1
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 0
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 5
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 2
Subtotal: 16
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 10
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 14
The retail store was out of boxes 0
Subtotal: 24
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 3
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 4
Their converter box "didn't work" 17
Subtotal: 24
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 2
Problem with channel or call sign 31
Weak or spotty signal 27
Subtotal: 60
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 76
Subtotal: 76
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 3
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite 0
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation 0
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them 0
Subtotal: 3
Total 205

September 12, 2008
The Honorable Kevin J. Martin
Chairman
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Dear Mr. Chairman:
As we distill the results of the Wilmington test, one lesson is already becoming clear:
for consumers, this is not a national transition to digital television; it is millions of
individual transitions in millions of American homes. Each consumer making the
transition faces a unique set of issues and a unique set of challenges. Unless we sharpen
our approach to reflect that reality, we face the possibility of enormous consumer
disruption on February 17, 2009—now less than 160 days away.
Most of the outreach efforts thus far—ours and the private sector’s—have been aimed
at increasing consumer awareness that the transition is coming and giving general advice
about how to prepare. These efforts are important and must continue.1 But it is time now
to help consumers better understand the specific problems they may encounter before the
February deadline. In Wilmington, for instance, early analysis indicates that the great
majority of residents who sought help in the wake of the switch-over had specific
technical problems—e.g., converter box installation issues, antenna or other reception
problems—and sought individualized assistance from the FCC and others. Watching
additional generalized PSAs would have done them no good; they needed specific help
for their specific problems.
As you know, I have long been concerned about the pace of preparation for the
transition. Those concerns persist. The purpose of this letter, however, is not to look
back at what might have been done differently, but to share with you in more detail some
ideas we have discussed concerning what we should do now, in the time we have
left, and to offer some additional suggestions. These proposals are designed to help the
Commission focus its priorities over the next several months, minimize the loss of
television service next February, and help restore service as quickly as possible wherever

1The lessons of Wilmington may be limited in this regard, given that the rest of the country is unlikely to
receive the kind of intensive, hands-on outreach that Wilmington received.
The Hon. Kevin J. Martin
Page Two
disruption occurs. As detailed in the attached appendix, I believe that the Commission
should take the following steps:2
1. Conduct additional field testing
2. Dedicate a special FCC Team to the needs of at-risk communities
3. Ramp up the FCC Call Center
4. Prepare comprehensive DTV contingency plans
5. Create an online DTV Consumer Forum
6. Educate consumers on DTV trouble-shooting, including antenna issues and the
need to “re-scan” converter boxes and sets
7. Ensure that broadcasters meet their construction deadlines
8. Encourage the rapid deployment of small, battery-powered DTV sets
9. Find a way to broadcast an analog message to consumers following the
transition

In making these proposals, I do not in any way mean to diminish the tireless outreach
efforts of Commission staff—particularly over the past several months. They have done
a truly impressive job. And I am most appreciative of your commitment to make the
transition work. I also welcome the consumer outreach and other measures that industry
has taken and will continue to take. I appreciate and commend all these efforts—
although I still wish we had a more integrated and coordinated public-private partnership
to tackle this huge challenge. The climb before us strikes me as daunting as ever and
time is growing short. I look forward to discussing these proposals further with you and
working together to make this transition as smooth as possible for the American people.
Warm regards,

Michael J. Copps

2Each of these proposals can be initiated on our own authority. I therefore do not include potentially
helpful proposals that would require others to act—such as creation of a federal inter-agency DTV task
force (which I’ve long advocated) or changes to the converter box coupon program. I would note that
serious concerns have been raised about the converter box program, including the extent to which NTIA
will be able to redistribute unredeemed and expired coupons (currently less than half of the coupons that
have reached their expiration date were redeemed prior to expiration).
1
1. Conduct additional field testing. I greatly appreciate your efforts and the public
service of the people of Wilmington for taking the idea of a full-scale test market and
making it a reality. And I agree with you that the ultimate success of the test will be
determined not by what happened in Wilmington last Monday, but by what we learn and
apply to the rest of the country before next February. I regret that broadcasters in other
markets have not stepped forward to do similar full-scale tests in markets with different
topographies and demographics. The relatively flat and unobstructed terrain in
Wilmington, for instance, limited the lessons we can learn about how digital signals
travel in urban areas with tall buildings or in areas with mountains, valleys or other
challenging terrain.
In my letter to you of last March proposing test markets, I stated that whether or not
we are able to conduct full-scale testing, there are a number of more limited DTV field
tests that we can and should conduct in advance of the transition date. Such tests would
not raise the logistical concerns of a full-scale trial because the analog broadcast signals
in these markets would remain. Even at this late date, this kind of limited field testing
could provide valuable “lessons learned” that could be applied to the nationwide
transition next February.
Action Item: The Commission should conduct field tests in various markets, focusing on
DTV reception issues. These tests would examine issues such as the digital “cliff effect”1
and whether consumers are able to receive all of the stations they received in analog with
their existing antenna set-up or whether they need to move their antenna or buy a new
one—e.g., an outdoor antenna where an indoor antenna worked in analog, which could be
a hazardous prospect for many consumers to contemplate in the middle of the winter.
These tests should take consumers as we find them, not as broadcast engineers assume
them to be (we should not assume, for example, that every consumer has a 30-foot
outdoor antenna). To make the tests most useful, we should partner with broadcasters or
other local organizations to enlist the participation of actual consumers trying to make the
switch in their homes. These real-world “lessons learned” would help us focus our
message and plan the kind of support consumers will need nationwide.
2. Dedicate a special FCC Team to the needs of at-risk communities. Many
communities (e.g., minorities, non-English-speakers, low-income consumers, the elderly,
Native Americans, rural residents, people with disabilities) disproportionately rely on
over-the-air service, are more difficult to reach, and often face special challenges in
obtaining, installing and using digital equipment. These communities may be the last to
learn about the transition, face the most hurdles, and have the most to lose. A successful
transition requires targeted, ongoing outreach and assistance for these communities.

1 An analog TV signal that is weak or receives interference may display static or snow, but often the picture
will be watchable through the noise. By contrast, digital TV signals can provide a clear picture even with a
weak signal or in the presence of interference. But if the digital signal falls below a certain minimum
strength, the picture can disappear entirely. This “cliff effect” means that some consumers that received
watchable—albeit not perfect—signals in analog may lose those signals entirely when they transition to
digital unless they adjust or upgrade their antenna.
Steps the FCC Should Take to Advance the DTV Transition
2
I recognize that a large part of our DTV outreach efforts have been directed at at-
risk communities. In particular, I commend the workshops you have held at the FCC to
focus on these issues, the efforts to make publications and other information accessible to
non-English-speakers and the disabled community, and the personal outreach our staff
has conducted in many of these communities. But we must do more.
Action Items: The Commission should dedicate particular FCC staff to work with
each community designated as “at-risk.” The FCC staff would be publicly identified as
working with a particular at-risk community and they would be given no other
responsibilities other than to work with that community on the transition. Staffers who
spend full-time working with specific at-risk communities will be able to immerse
themselves in the unique issues and institutions unique to these communities, build trust,
and maintain close contact in a way that broader efforts cannot. Dedicating specific FCC
staff to specific at-risk communities will also give those communities a single point of
contact at the FCC, and provide us internally with the kind of specialized knowledge that
may prove invaluable in the coming months.
In addition, the FCC should immediately implement the October 2007
recommendation (reiterated in June 2008) from its Consumer Advisory Committee to
convene a working group on digital closed captioning that includes representatives from
the broadcast, cable and satellite industries, consumer electronics manufacturers and
retailers, and captioning providers and consumers. The working group would: (1)
identify current and anticipated problems with the transmission and display of digital
captioning; (2) evaluate the captioning capabilities of digital equipment; and (3) develop
solutions to ensure that captions are passed through intact to the consumer.
3. Ramp up the FCC Call Center. While many consumers will have no difficulties
transitioning to digital, others will not have it so easy. They may find installation of a
converter box technically daunting or physically difficult. Or they may properly install a
converter box only to find that they can no longer receive one or more stations that they
were able to receive in analog. In Wilmington, 1,536 residents called the FCC or their
local broadcaster or cable operator for help in the two days following the switch-over.
Extrapolating from this number is dangerous, especially since: (1) the percentage of
Wilmington households that rely exclusively on over-the-air service is only about half of
the national average; (2) consumers nationally will not receive the intensive on-the-
ground outreach that Wilmington residents received; (3) the relatively flat terrain in
Wilmington may not reflect the reception issues that other markets will experience.
Those factors would argue for a higher level of disruption nationwide. For illustrative
purposes, however, and conservatively assuming that the number of calls would have
increased by 50% if Wilmington had twice the number of over-the-air-exclusive
households—thus tracking the national average—the total number of calls would have
been 2,304—or 1.28% of the 180,000 total households in the market. Assuming 114.5
million TV households in the U.S., that could mean that 1.46 million consumers could be
looking for answers when full-power analog broadcasting ends next February.
3
Action Item: The Commission should significantly ramp up its Call Center
operations. Augmented front-line staff should be trained to identify the nature of
consumer problems and solve them if they can. If the front-line staff cannot resolve a
particular issue, they should have resources at their disposal to refer the inquiry to the
proper venue. Technical staff should be on duty for specific questions about converter
boxes, antennas or other issues. These staffers should have access to every government-
certified converter box (and its installation instructions) on the market. I understand that
something like this approach is being used to handle the calls from Wilmington, but the
level of staffing and training needed to handle calls from a single market with 180,000
households is tiny compared to what will be required to handle calls from 210 markets
with over 114 million households.
For consumers who need more hands-on assistance, the Commission should facilitate
the development of local partnerships—e.g., civic, religious, and other community
groups; local fire or police departments and other public entities; local phone companies,
cable companies, retailers and other businesses. FCC staff could refer appropriate cases
to these entities for the kind of hands-on assistance that many consumers will need—not
only prior to the transition but in its aftermath to restore any service losses as quickly as
possible.
4. Prepare comprehensive DTV contingency plans. The February 17, 2009 deadline
is a hard date. We have only one chance to get this right. We must be prepared—as
much as humanly possible—for whatever occurs. There is no precedent for what we are
about to do. We must create a playbook from scratch. We can learn a great deal from
Wilmington and from the experiences of other countries, but the scope and scale of what
will happen next February is unprecedented. The more potential problems we can
anticipate and plan for, the better off we will be.
Action Item: The Commission should strengthen its relationship with NTIA by
establishing a joint working group to coordinate and prepare detailed contingency plans
for the transition, in consultation with Congress, industry, and other interested
stakeholders. This working group would focus on three time periods, each of which has
its own challenges—the days and weeks leading up to the transition, the transition date
itself, and its aftermath.
5. Create an online DTV Consumer Forum. Each consumer will face a unique set
of issues in transitioning to digital—we live in different communities with different
topographies; we own different types of television sets, antennas and converter boxes; we
possess different levels of technical and physical abilities, etc. These unique
characteristics limit the usefulness of top-down, one-size-fits-all outreach which cannot
address the specific situations in which consumers find themselves or help them trouble-
shoot as they go through this challenging process.
Action Item: We should establish a Consumer Forum on the FCC website for
consumers confronting similar issues to talk to and learn from each other. People in the
same community could discuss how to get good reception from different stations and
4
which local retailers have which converter boxes in stock. Consumers who have
purchased converter boxes could connect with others across the country who bought
similar boxes to discuss capabilities and installation issues. Individuals who have
connected a converter box and are having difficulty getting reception could seek trouble-
shooting advice from those who have faced similar problems. People with disabilities or
non-English speakers could get advice from others who share their special needs.
The sooner we launch such a forum the sooner we can begin to develop the
knowledge base. Indeed, most leading high-tech and consumer electronics companies
sponsor message boards on their websites so consumers can share information about their
products. While there is always a chance of inaccurate or incomplete information being
posted, the benefits would far outweigh the risks. Good information will generally
squeeze out bad information, and FCC staff can weigh in if misinformation is brought to
our attention—just as private companies do.
6. Educate consumers on DTV trouble-shooting, including antenna issues and the
need to “re-scan” converter boxes and sets. As the Wilmington test demonstrated, for
many consumers the last steps will be the most difficult. People may have learned about
the transition, researched what they need to do, obtained the government coupons,
compared various converter boxes, and ultimately purchased a box and brought it home.
They will hopefully have followed the instructions and connected the box to their old
analog set. But when they turn the set on, they may still be unable to get a picture or they
may have lost some of the channels they formerly watched in analog. Many will have no
idea why or even know the right questions to ask. Do they know about the digital “cliff
effect”? Do they know that some antennas are VHF-only and that many stations are
moving to the UHF band? Do they know that low power stations may still be
broadcasting in analog and, assuming they have purchased a converter box that will pass
those signals through, how to navigate to those channels? Do they know that hundreds of
stations across the country will be changing channels at the end of the transition and they
may need to “re-scan” their converter box or DTV set when they wake up on February 18
in order to find the new channel locations?

Action Item: We should develop and disseminate trouble-shooting checklists for
consumers facing these real-world issues, including re-scanning, antenna functionality
and the digital “cliff effect.” Ideally, this information would be tailored to specific
markets—e.g., telling consumers that a particular station is changing channels on a
particular date and that they may need to re-scan their converter box or DTV set, or that a
particular station is broadcasting at lower power during the transition.
7. Ensure that broadcasters meet their construction deadlines. Consumers will
only be able to receive digital signals next February to the extent that broadcasters are
transmitting them. The Media Bureau’s recent report stated that 1,002 broadcasters are
operating in digital with completed post-transition facilities but over 700 others are not.
Action Item: We must do everything we can to ensure that the stations that have not
completed their post-transition digital facilities meet their deadlines. While at this point
5
none of these stations has said that it will not be ready by February 17, 2009, the fact that
63 of 82 stations with a final construction deadline of May 18, 2008 filed for (and
received) six-month extensions does not inspire confidence and puts additional pressure
on the transition’s final weeks. Stations that have not fully constructed by October 20,
2008 must file another status report on that date. The Media Bureau should issue a status
report within two weeks of that date on the status of the final build-out and any problems
that remain.
8. Encourage the rapid deployment of small, battery-powered DTV sets. As
consumers reminded us again during the recent hurricane preparations, small, battery-
powered analog TVs generally will not work after the transition.2 Yet thousands, if not
millions, of people have these small battery-powered analog TVs as part of their
emergency preparedness plans. I understand that the cheapest battery-powered digital
television available today costs approximately $200.3
Action Item: The Commission should determine where development of small,
battery-powered DTV sets currently stands and work with industry to ensure that these
products are on the market in sufficient numbers by the next hurricane season.
9. Last, but by no means least, find a way to broadcast an analog message to
consumers after the transition. As we found in Wilmington, no matter how many PSAs
are run or how much outreach we do, there will be some consumers who will not be
prepared for the transition on February 17. These consumers need to understand what
happened to their television service and where they can turn for help. In Wilmington, the
local broadcasters transmitted such a message on their analog channels after the switch-
over earlier this week. Of the 1,536 consumers who sought help, almost 80% called the
FCC phone number provided in the broadcasters’ analog message.
Action Item: The Commission should search for a way to broadcast an analog
message for a short period (e.g., two weeks) after the transition. The message would tell
consumers what happened to their signals and where they can call for help. It could also
provide urgent weather and other emergency information. We should develop market-
by-market plans, based upon factors such as channel and transmitter availability, the
presence of analog low-power stations, and industry willingness to participate. If
necessary, the Commission should consider recommending a statutory change to
Congress.

2 These battery-powered sets may, of course, continue to receive low-power stations still broadcasting in
analog after the full-power transition date.
3 One manufacturer has recently introduced an external battery pack that consumers can attach to its
converter box in the event of a power outage. While this is certainly a helpful development, the battery
pack will only work with a particular converter box, and many small, handheld analog sets have built-in
antennas that do not have an antenna input to which a converter box can connect.

TV Technology changed their web-site recently, but I was finally able to view Doug Lung's updated RF report today. This article is of interest as respects Wilmington:

http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/66584

It lead me to a blog as well, which points out the lack of info on needing UHF antennas locally.

http://wilmingtondtvtest.wordpress.com/

In short:

Since our Elon crew has been here the impression has been that the common emphasis prior to the switch was to have cable or satellite, a digital television or purchase an analog-digital converter box. This information has been drilled over and over and over again to the residents of New Hanover and the surrounding counties, but there might have been one bit of information that was not emphasized—Very High Frequency (VHF) antennas no longer work in this market and must be replaced with an Ultra High Frequency (UHF) antenna. And like Robinson and Larson, people are angry that they were not “told” this information.

It goes on to say that WWAY had an 800# which told them about the need for UHF. Well, what about the PSA's? Granted, most parts of the country won't be UHF only, but very, very few will be able to get by with only VHF come next year.

5. Create an online DTV Consumer Forum. Each consumer will face a unique set of issues in transitioning to digital—we live in different communities with different
topographies; we own different types of television sets, antennas and converter boxes; we possess different levels of technical and physical abilities, etc. These unique
characteristics limit the usefulness of top-down, one-size-fits-all outreach which cannot address the specific situations in which consumers find themselves or help them trouble-shoot as they go through this challenging process.
Action Item: We should establish a Consumer Forum on the FCC website for consumers confronting similar issues to talk to and learn from each other.

While I agree with Commissioner Copps' observations, we, of course, already have a consumer forum here, with threads for almost every DMA, though some are more active than others.

Someone needs to tell Commissioner Copps then!

Most areas (including even Wilmington before last week) are currently served by both VHF and UHF stations, so one might think that the VHF/UHF issue wouldn't be significant. But many older people who have lived in their homes for a long time may have put up their antennas when there were no UHF stations in their area, or at least none that they considered worth watching.

When my wife and I moved into our house over twenty years ago, it came with a roof antenna that the previous owner had installed. It could do both VHF and UHF, but the UHF reception wasn't great. For many years we watched only ABC, CBS, and NBC which are on VHF, plus PBS on UHF (with a light dusting of "snow"). We didn't watch FOX (UHF) at all until they started to carry the World Series. Driving around, I can see some old VHF-only antennas on rooftops, although I don't know how many of them are actually used any more.

Also, the only stations that people here can receive with a watchable picture using an indoor antenna are VHF. My wife has a small portable TV in the kitchen for the morning news, with a single rabbit ear, and it's tuned permanently to one of the two stations that it can pick up. That station is moving its digital signal back to VHF in February, so if we can get it with an indoor antenna then, I'll look for a small digital TV to replace it. Otherwise my wife says she'll just switch to radio for the morning news.

Most areas (including even Wilmington before last week) are currently served by both VHF and UHF stations, so one might think that the VHF/UHF issue wouldn't be significant. But many older people who have lived in their homes for a long time may have put up their antennas when there were no UHF stations in their area, or at least none that they considered worth watching.

In the Wilmington case, all three networks have been available on VHF for years and there was no need to add a UHF antenna. I know this to be the case in Wilmington since I lived in the area from 1968 to 1985.

In my own market's case, that is also quite true. In 1995, when my station changed network affiliations from ABC to FOX, that left on VHF, CBS, NBC and FOX, ABC went to UHF and the ratings have never come back up. We had been either number 1 or 2 in the market, ABC is now number 4 and has been for quite a few years now FOX went from number 4 to 1 or 2 in this market and my station is consistantly in the top 3 FOX affiliates in the entire country. Last ratings we were the number 1 FOX affiliate in the country. We got many calls from people who didn't have a UHF antenna, only VHF and asked us to please go back to ABC since they didn't have UHF antennas. Well of course we couldn't do that and ABC has since tried to get back on VHF in this market to no avail. It is a more common than most people think.

Someone needs to tell Commissioner Copps then!

Attached is a copy of the letter that I sent to him last night.

DTV coverage areas are in some instances to be much less than that of analog. An agency is working to identify those markets, and arrange new antennas to make up for losses.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6596515.html

DTV coverage areas are in some instances to be much less than that of analog. An agency is working to identify those markets, and arrange new antennas to make up for losses.

So what does that mean? Wasn't this switch planned out to replicate analog coverage? Were the stations no built in accordance with the FCC's approved technical parameters? If they were, what went wrong with the engineering analyzes?

Is the FCC now going to order stations to re-engineer and then rebuild their facilities to restore coverage outside their DMAs? I'm thinking Wilmington is just the 'Tip' of the proverbial 'Iceberg' and it's supposed to be a relatively easy area for DTV.

--- CHAS

So what does that mean? Wasn't this switch planned out to replicate analog coverage? Were the stations no built in accordance with the FCC's approved technical parameters? If they were, what went wrong with the engineering analyzes?

Is the FCC now going to order stations to re-engineer and then rebuild their facilities to restore coverage outside their DMAs? I'm thinking Wilmington is just the 'Tip' of the proverbial 'Iceberg' and it's supposed to be a relatively easy area for DTV.

--- CHAS

I'm not really sure, but I am not necessarily looking forward to a bunch of LD sites that cause more interference.

The FCC remember does not decide DMA's, so they could probably care less about how far out of them a stations signal penetrates. This should be interesting to see what they come up with in regards to this.

There's only one real question here: will the FCC back all this talk up with cash?

If they will subsidize stations' handling of this, it will be welcomed with open arms. If they expect stations to pay for it themselves, the FCC will be laughed right out the room.

No station is going to bear the cost of this.

The FCC was tasked with providing spectrum for a second channel for each broadcast station, many of which are (were) VHF which has different propagation characteristics over the optical horizon than the UHF allocations. To try to equalize these limitations, they realized that the only way to extend the coverage to fill the gap was to increase ERP. This led to proposals of 5 megawatt or more required DTV power to equal the NTSC VHF coverage. This power level was not permissible, (and I'm not sure the stations could afford the electricity), and the maximum allocation was capped at 1 megawatt. Where it got interesting is when the post transition allocations came out, and the FCC made the new allocations to replicate not the NTSC VHF allocation, but instead the digital UHF allocations that were not covering the same area.

So given both the UHF spectrum that could not replicate the VHF coverage, and the post transition allocations were not given out based on former NTSC signal levels, this could be a major thorn in the conversion.

The fact that many stations are transitioning from Low-VHF to UHF has been discussed many times on this board. The FCC seemed to think that allowing 1000kW was going to make up for this difference, when it can only do so much. The larger issue with WECT is that they simply moved, but they aren't the only station to move their transmitter.

The fact that this statement is coming from Chairman Martin now, when (as I recall) he previously stated only ~5% or so of viewers would lose service could be called a significant oversight.

As I have said, more translators and/or SFN's/DTS's will be needed, but as we know, ATSC isn't all that great for SFN's. Hopefully the knee-jerk reaction won't be to force former Low-VHF stations back into the band. Then the FCC will find out how useless the Low-VHF contours are for DTV.

Martin told the committee that since it was the FCC's goal for viewers not to lose access to signals they had historically watched, it was working on ways to fix the problem, including perhaps an antenna to reach those areas where historic out-of-market carriage was lost due to changes in the contour of the digital signal.

I don't think it should be WECT's responsibility to cover lost viewers in out of market areas. It should fall to the stations local to the respective DMA's.

WDCN-LP has a license to broadcast analog on VHF 6 at 3 kW,but the station has been off the air for some time, since 2007 or even 2006, because of interference problems to WTTG Fox 5. In fact, looking at the CDBS applications, WDCN-LP 6 was granted another extension to stay silent on August 18, 2008. Their latest Request for Silent STA application is at http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/cdbsmenu.hts?context=25&appn=101262181&formid=910&fac_num=20450. I suspect their plan is stay off the air until next February 18 and then fire up a VHF 6 analog signal once WTTG 5 is off the air. That is, if they are still financially afloat.


I haven't been able to receive any video from them, but for about two months now I've been able to get audio from them on 87.75.

Martin told the committee that since it was the FCC's goal for viewers not to lose access to signals they had historically watched, it was working on ways to fix the problem, including perhaps an antenna to reach those areas where historic out-of-market carriage was lost due to changes in the contour of the digital signal.

I guess Commissioner Martin had to spin his story and appease Congress by telling them something that superficially sounds positive. He's entering into a no-win situation and he's beginning to realize that. Even I can see the technical problems transitioning to political headaches next February when that '5%' loose access to long time watched stations. Somehow, I can't imagine those viewers accepting 'You shouldn't have been watching out-of-market TV' as a reasonable explanation.

The reality is everyone spent a lot of money and effort to make the transition happen on schedule. When those new facilities activate in February, propagation physics will prevail and there will be little remaining for anyone to adjust. Martin and the FCC will just have to take the heat!

--- CHAS

Somewhat interesting conflict for a maximized power filing and a channel change petition that could affect reception in the western edges of the DC market. WDCW-DT CW 50 in Washington DC is currently operating at 125 kW on UHF 51 and will switch to UHF 50 next February, currently set to run at 122 kW ERP. In June, WDCW-DT filed a maximize power application for 1000 kW on UHF 50 post-transition which will improve OTA reception nicely.

However, both WWPX-DT Ion 60 (VHF 12) in Martinsburg, WV and WETA-DT PBS 26 (UHF 27) in DC filed conflicting petitions in June to the FCC to move their post-transition channel to UHF 51. WWPX wants to move their antenna from west of Martinsburg some 35 miles south to a tower on the Blue Ridge east of Front Royal to operate at 860 kW on UHF 51. This would interfere with WDCW-DT's maximized power UHF 50 reception out in western Loudoun and Fauquier counties and west of the Blue Ridge because of the strong signal from UHF 51 and vice versa, for WWPX-DT reception closer to DC. I'm in eastern Loudoun county so this could affect me.

This week WDCW amended their maximized power application to submit a mutual interference acceptance between the two stations. I'm guessing the reason that WDCW's agreed to the interference is that WWPX-DT's petition is holding up WDCW-DT's maximized power application and WDCW's owners do not think WWPX will get their petition granted.

The competing petition from WETA-DT is to move to UHF 51 at increased power compared to their UHF 27 ERP at the current location in NW DC. This would not create an interference issue as WETA-DT and WDCW-DT are co-located and would make for a more efficient post-transition allocation with four consecutive channels all from towers in NW DC: WRC-DT on UHF 48, WWTD-LP on 49 (which could presumably file to digital flash cut to 49 in the future), WDCW-DT on 50, WETA-DT on 51. Will be interesting to see if this plays out in a channel alignment that makes sense or not.

WDCW had a translator W51CY on Ch 51 on Blue Ridge Summit just south of the PA/MD line, and had filed to construct permit for a digital translator on Ch 51 to replace their analog one, which served Franklin, Fulton and Washington counties. Is this not going to happen now or be assigned a different channel... This appears to be the only way those of us on this side of the mountain are going to receive these stations. I had spoken to the Engineer at Fox-43 in York, Pa and they are also planning a digital translator in the same area.

WDCW had a translator W51CY on Ch 51 on Blue Ridge Summit just south of the PA/MD line, and had filed to construct permit for a digital translator on Ch 51 to replace their analog one, which served Franklin, Fulton and Washington counties. Is this not going to happen now or be assigned a different channel... This appears to be the only way those of us on this side of the mountain are going to receive these stations. I had spoken to the Engineer at Fox-43 in York, Pa and they are also planning a digital translator in the same area.

That's interesting. I'd guess Fox 43 wants to have a signal in Chambersburg, which is now in their DMA. Wonder if WGAL will do the same.

As for 51, it will either stay where it is, or get relocated elsewhere I'd guess. I wonder why they wouldn't try to do it on 50, thus effectively giving them an on-channel repeater in the area. Might encourage the other locals to do the same thing.

- Trip

On a different note, Bruce added a new page to RabbitEars today, and it's quite interesting.

http://www.rabbitears.info/statistics.php

This page has some basic statistics on digital television station in the US.

The most common TV frequency? 13
The least common (Not counting of low-VHF)? 14

Now note that these numbers are for the final, post-transition allocations, and not the current stuff. The reason there's stations outside of 2-51 is that it includes Canadian stations, which will still be on 52-69 after next year.

- Trip

Attached is a copy of the letter that I sent to him last night.

Excellent letter! Bravo!

It's style makes it likely that it will be paid attention to by the commissioner. It makes it obvious that you know the subject well, and the commissioner should consider your letter to be of high credibility.

And to speak of "Are you ready tests ?" - Yesterday during the 6PM News, most NC stations showed one thing on digital/cable/DBS, and another on their OTA analog channels to emphasize "Are YOU ready?"

Wilmington, NC DTV Transition (September 15, 2008)
Overview of DTV Calls
Wilmington, NC Transition Calls from Sixth Day
Overview/Analysis of Wilmington Transition Test DTV Calls
Category Count
CONSUMERS WHO WERE NOT AWARE OF THE TRANSITION
They were not aware of the switch to DTV 1
They were unaware of the correct transition date 1
They did not think the stations they watch would switch to digital
Subtotal: 2
CONSUMERS WHO WERE AWARE BUT DID NOT ACT
They forgot to upgrade 2
They were unable to attain assistance to upgrade
They relied on another member of their household to upgrade 1
They waited too long to buy or set up a digital set or a converter box 1
They were out of town or too busy or knew they could do it later 2
Subtotal: 6
CONSUMERS WHO HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CONVERTER BOX COUPON PROGRAM
A coupon did not arrive in time 4
Wanted coupon or had not received coupon from NTIA 7
The retail store was out of boxes
Subtotal: 11
CONSUMERS WHO HAD INITIAL DIFFICULTY WITH THEIR CONVERTER BOXES
Setting up converter boxes was too hard 3
They didn't understand the instructions for the digital set or the converter box 2
Their converter box "didn't work" 4
Subtotal: 9
CONSUMERS WHO HAD RECEPTION AND TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Their antenna didn't work or they have no antenna or their antenna wasn't connected 24
Problem with channel or call sign 7
Weak or spotty signal 11
Subtotal: 42
CONSUMERS COMPLAINING ABOUT NOT RECEIVING WILMINGTON SIGNALS
Problem with channel or call sign 49
Subtotal: 49
OTHER PROBLEMS
Satellite subscribers to Dish Network or Direct TV – did not subscribe to local package 6
They thought all their sets were hooked up to cable or satellite
They were waiting for cable or satellite installation
Wanted DTV consumer information sent to them
Subtotal: 6
Total 125

NEWS News media Information 202 / 418-0500Fax-On-Demand 202 / 418-2830 TTY 202/418-2555Internet: http://www.fcc.govftp.fcc.gov
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order
constitutes official action. See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
September 17, 2008 Mary Diamond (202) 418-2388
Mary.diamond@fcc.gov
FCC CREATES TELEVISION PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND
EDUCATIONAL VIDEO TO HELP PREPARE FOR TRANSITION TO DIGITAL
PSAs Distributed to English and Spanish Broadcast Stations; Educational Video Available
through DTV.gov
Washington, DC – As part of its effort to provide Americans with the information they need to
make a smooth transition to digital television, the Federal Communications Commission today
released television public service announcements (PSAs) and a long form educational video.
The 30 and 60-second PSAs, produced in English and Spanish, convey basic information
regarding the transition and steps consumers must take to prepare. Copies were distributed to
1,368 full powered commercial English broadcast stations as well as 100 Spanish broadcast
stations.
The long form educational video conveys greater detail regarding the transition in four parts:
What is DTV, What You Need to Know, Watching DTV with a Converter Box, and Summary.
The video helps the consumer decide whether or not they need a converter box for their
television, gives a step-by-step guide to connecting a converter box to their television, and
explains how to rescan for channels after the end of the transition.
The PSAs and the educational video can be viewed at http://www.dtv.gov/video_audio.html.
Requests for broadcast-quality versions can be made through DTV.gov or by contacting
Rosemary Kimball, at Rosemary.Kimball@fcc.gov.
-FCC-
News about the Federal Communications Commission can also be found on the Commission’s
web site www.fcc.gov
2
ATTATCHMENT:
Below are the transcripts for the PSAs and the video:
National Public Service Announcement Script:
Is Your TV Ready For Digital?
Sample :60 Script
[Chairman/Commissioner on Camera:]
Hello, I’m _____________ of the Federal Communications Commission. By February 17th, TV stations will
stop broadcasting in analog and broadcast only in digital. Your TV needs to be ready so you can keep
watching.
[Chairman/Commissioner Voice Over:]
If you have a TV with a digital tuner, you can already watch digital television. If your TV is connected to
cable or satellite, this change shouldn’t affect you. But if you use an older TV with rabbit ears or a rooftop
antenna you need to act.
You can buy a new TV. You can subscribe to cable or satellite or you can buy a converter box and plug it
into your older TV. The government offers you two $40 coupons toward the cost of converter boxes. If
your TV is ready, you can get the benefits of digital broadcasting today!
But don’t delay or… [SFX: Static sound]
[Announcer Voice Over:]
Is your TV ready for digital? For more information, visit DTV.gov or dial 1-888-CALL-FCC.
¿Está su televisor preparado para digital?
60-Second Spanish TV Script
[Commissioner on Camera]: ¿Está su televisor preparado para digital?
Hola. Soy el Comisionado _______ de la FCC. Para el 17 de febrero las estaciones de televisión
acabaran señales analógicas y únicamente emitirán señal digital. Su televisor tiene que estar preparado
para que pueda seguir viéndolo.
[Announcer Voice Over]: Si usted tiene un televisor con sintonizador digital, usted ya esta viendo
televisión digital. Si su televisor está conectado a televisión por cable o satélite, éste cambio no le
afectará…
Pero si usted tiene un televisor viejo con antena fijada o de techo, tiene que actuar.
Puede comprar un televisor nuevo ...
Puede suscribirse a cable o satélite….
o puede comprar una caja convertidora y conectarla a su televisor. El gobierno ofrece cupones para
ayudar con las cajas convertidoras.
¡Si su televisor ya está listo, puede disfrutar de los beneficios de televisión digital hoy mismo!
Pero no se demore o…[Static sound]
3
¿Está su televisor preparado para digital? Visite DTV.gov o llame al 1-888-CALL-FCC para más
información.
Educational Video Script
Chapter One - What is DTV?
[Voiceover]
This video is furnished by the Federal Communications Commission.
[Chairman on screen]
Is your TV ready for digital? Hello I’m Chairman Kevin Martin of the Federal Communication Commission.
By February 17th TV stations will stop broadcasting in analog and broadcast only in digital. Your TV
needs to be ready so you can keep watching.
[Voiceover]
Digital television, also known as DTV, is here. And, after February 17th, TV stations will turn off their
analog signal. The FCC wants to be sure you are ready to keep watching TV.
DTV offers improved picture and sound quality, and, for many people, additional free programming. If
your TV is ready, you can have the benefits of DTV right now.
This video will explain how to tell if your TV is ready for the DTV transition. And if not, about the options
you have for getting DTV.
Even if you’re ready for DTV, you’ll still want to watch this video. Maybe you can help a friend or neighbor
who’s not ready, or who doesn’t know if they’re ready.
And if you need to know more, you can call us toll-free at 1-888-CALL-FCC. Or you can go online at
www.DTV.gov.
Currently, most TV stations are broadcasting in both analog and digital formats. But after February 17,
2009, TV stations will broadcast only in digital. This change is called the “DTV transition.”
Why all digital? Because digital technology works more efficiently. Digital takes up less space, or
spectrum, than analog technology.
As a part of the DTV transition, more spectrum is now being made available for important public safety
needs, such as local police, fire and emergency rescue communications.
Digital technology also provides more programming options, because in the same amount of spectrum
that stations use to broadcast one analog channel, they can broadcast multiple digital channels. This is
called multicasting. With these extra channels comes the opportunity for broadcasters to offer more local
programming.
So what should you do to prepare for the DTV transition and make sure you can continue watching your
favorite channels and programs? Well, most people won’t have to make any changes at all, and for those
who do, there are simple steps that you can take right now. More about that coming up.
But we also want to encourage you to call 1-888- CALL-FCC for more information. Or go online – our
website offers fact sheets and answers to frequently asked questions….everything you need to know to
be ready for the DTV transition.
Chapter Two - What You Need to Know
This video is furnished by the Federal Communications Commission.
What you need to do to be ready for the DTV transition depends on how the TVs in your home currently
receive broadcast signals.
4
Most of us get our television signal in one of three ways: from a cable provider, from a satellite provider,
or over-the-air through an indoor or outdoor antenna -- like rabbit ears on your TV or a rooftop antenna.
If your TV is connected to cable, the change to digital-only broadcasting shouldn’t affect you. Likewise, if
your TV is connected to satellite and you receive your local broadcast stations from that satellite provider,
the change to digital-only broadcasting shouldn’t affect you.
But if you have a TV that gets an over-the-air signal with rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna, you may need
to act.
Built inside your television is a piece of equipment called a tuner. If you have an older television, it
probably has an analog tuner. If you have a newer television, one that you bought in the past few years, it
may also have a digital tuner.
If you have a digital tuner in your television, it’s a digital TV, and you will be able to continue to watch
television without doing anything extra. One easy way to identify a digital television is to look for one of
these logos.
But if you have an older TV with only an analog tuner inside, you’ll need to take action in order to keep
watching that TV after February 17. You have three different options, and you can choose the one that is
best for you.
First, you could buy a TV with a digital tuner and use the antenna you have now to watch free over-the-air
broadcasts. Just to be clear, you do not need to buy an HDTV to receive digital television signals. “High
definition” is one kind of digital television, but any TV with a digital tuner will let you watch DTV
broadcasts.
Second, you could subscribe to cable or satellite, and get your local channels through your provider.
Third, if you want to continue watching free, over-the-air television using the analog TV and the antenna
you already have, you can do that – by hooking your TV up to a digital-to-analog converter box.
Each analog TV in your home will need its own converter box. Converter boxes are available in stores
now. These boxes generally cost between $40 and $70.
To help out households that need to purchase converter boxes, Congress set up a program that will give
you up to two $40 coupons to be used towards the purchase of converter boxes. You can apply for your
coupons by calling 1-888-388-2009, or online at www.DTV2009.gov. To find out more you can call us toll
free at 1-888-CALL-FCC or go online at www.DTV.gov.
Depending on where you live, you may want to explore whether some of your favorite stations are what
are known as “low-power” stations. The February 17th deadline for ending analog broadcasts does not
apply to these stations, and if you want to keep watching them after hooking up your TV to a digital-to-
analog converter box, you may need a converter box with a feature called analog pass-through.
To find out more about this and other available features, you can call us at 1-888- CALL-FCC. Or go
online at www.DTV.gov. You can also check with your retailer.
No matter which option you choose, digital broadcasting can bring more programming choices and better
picture and sound quality into your home, so start exploring your options today!
Chapter Three - Watching DTV With a Converter Box
VO: This video is furnished by the Federal Communications Commission.
In order to watch free, over-the-air broadcasts on an analog TV after February 17, 2009, you’ll need to
hook your TV up to a digital-to-analog converter box. Remember, you’ll need to get a converter box for
each analog TV in your home that receives over-the-air signals.
5
Your new converter box should come with a coaxial wire, a remote control, AND an instruction manual.
We urge you to follow the instructions that come with your particular converter box.
You can also call us or visit our website for detailed information.
But hooking up your converter box up should be fairly simple. First, unplug your TV from the wall. Then,
remove the antenna wire that is currently plugged into your TV, and plug it into the “Antenna In” port on
the box. Then, plug one end of the new wire into the “Out to TV” port on the box, and the other end into
the “Antenna In” port of the TV.
If your antenna wire looks like this, not to worry, just remember to purchase the necessary adaptors that
will make it possible for you to use the coaxial ports on the converter box.
Plug in and turn on your TV and converter box. Tune your TV to channel 3 or 4, and using the remote that
comes with the converter box, make sure to follow the on screen set-up guide which will scan for
available DTV channels in your area and set your TV up to receive them.
You should re-scan for available channels periodically during the transition, in order to capture those
stations that change to digital or change their location after your initial set-up.
Even with this new set up, remember that you are still getting your signal from an antenna. Generally, an
outdoor antenna gets better reception than an indoor antenna. If you already have an antenna and are
getting good quality reception on channels 2 through 51, your antenna should work fine for digital. Some
antennas that get poor reception with analog—or can’t get stations above channel 14—may need to be
upgraded. But you do NOT need to purchase a special DTV or HDTV antenna to receive DTV signals.
You should always try your antenna first, before upgrading. You may, however, need to adjust where your
antenna is pointing to get the best signal.
You can call us at 1-888-CALL-FCC for more information on antennas. Or go online at www.DTV.gov.
So to re-cap…
Step 1: Unplug your TV from the wall
Step 2: Remove your Antenna wire from the TV and plug it into the “Antenna In” port on the box.
Step 3: Plug Coaxial wire into the “Out to TV” port on your converter box
Step 4: Plug the remaining end of the coaxial cable into “Antenna in” on TV.
Step 5: Plug in your TV and turn on the converter box.
Step 6: Tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 and follow the on screen set-up guide
Your VCR will work with your analog TV after the transition. If you want to use a VCR to watch videotapes
you won't need a converter box. If you want to use a VCR to record a DTV program, you can hook your
VCR to a converter box and it will record your program. Again, you can call us or visit the FCC website for
more information.
With a converter box, you can watch closed-captioned programs like you did before. Also, with some
converter boxes, you can change the size, font and color of your digital captions.
You can start getting ready right now for the DTV transition. The sooner you act, the sooner you will be
able to start enjoying all the benefits of digital television!
Chapter Four - Summary
This video is furnished by the Federal Communications Commission.
Today we’ve shown you how to tell if your TV is ready for DTV—and we’ve shown you options for making
the switch to DTV if you need to.
Remember, if you have a TV with a digital tuner, you can already watch DTV. If your TV is connected to
cable or satellite, the change to digital shouldn’t affect you.
6
But if you use an analog TV with rabbit ears or a rooftop antenna, you need to act. You can buy a TV with
a digital tuner… You can subscribe to cable or satellite…
Or, you can buy a converter box and plug it in to your analog TV. You can get up to two $40 coupons
toward the purchase of converter boxes. To apply for your coupons, call toll-free 1-888-388-2009 or go
online to www.DTV2009.gov.
And remember, if you’re ready for DTV, you might be able to use the information we’ve provided to help
your friends and relatives get ready as well.
If you have any questions, the FCC is ready to help. You can call us toll-free at 1-888-225-5322. That’s 1-
888-CALL-FCC. Or find us online at www.DTV.gov.
[Chairman on screen]
If your TV is ready you can get the benefits of digital broadcasting today. But don’t delay, or…
[Screen to static with date banner]

The most common TV frequency? 13
The least common (Not counting of low-VHF)? 14

Why so few 14's? One of my closest stations (WMYA in the Greenville SC DMA) happens to be on 14.

Yesterday during the 6PM News, most NC stations showed one thing on digital/cable/DBS, and another on their OTA analog channels to emphasize "Are YOU ready?"

I didn't know that was a statewide thing. I saw it on WLOS (Asheville) but assumed it was in connection with their inauguration of HD local news yesterday.

Why so few 14's?

My quess is the protection of land mobile service in seven major cities.

From what I've heard, there's some expensive filtering that has to be done to protect the land mobile stuff immediately below channel 14. I know of four stations off-hand who had their transitional digitals changed to get off of 14, and there's even one station now which is asking for a different frequency in lieu of 14.

(Those stations are WHTJ-DT 46, WTOM-DT 35, KRCR-DT 34, KMBC-DT 7 and the current one is WYDO-DT trying to go from 14 to 47)

EDIT: Complete list:

KGPE-DT moved to 34
KRCR-DT moved to 34
WHNO-DT moved to 21
WTOM-DT moved to 35
KSAX-DT moved to 36
KMBC-DT moved to 7
KHNE-DT moved to 28
KJRR-DT moved to 18
KEZI-DT moved to 44
KPLO-DT moved to 13
KVTV-DT moved to 31
WHTJ-DT moved to 46
KJWY-DT attempted to move to 4

And that's just pre-transition.

- Trip

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), HAYES CENTER, NEBRASKA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 6 for DTV Channel 18 for Station KWNB-DT. (Dkt No. RM-11489, 08-193). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/12/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2116). MB DA-08-2116A1.doc DA-08-2116A1.pdf DA-08-2116A1.txt

I posted this last night on the San Francisco OTA thread. Thought some of you might enjoy reading it too.

- - -

The FCC, California PUC and Comcast recently held several neighborhood meetings in San Francisco and Oakland to discuss the transition to all digital broadcasting next February. I attended one in the Mission District here in San Francisco. On the panel were FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, a commissioner from the PUC, the head of Comcast in the Bay Area, an FCC engineer and the General Manager of KDTV. In the audience were several representatives of local TV and radio stations. (My former boss, the Director of Engineering at KGO, the General Manager and the station's Public Service Director were there. We had a nice visit after the meeting.)

Unlike the experiences they had in Oakland with hardly any reception, they got good signals at the session I attended using just rabbit ears and a UHF loop type antenna, but they were only about 2 miles from Sutro Tower.

Here's a review of the session that lasted a little over an hour.

The PUC rep first talked about what the state plans to do to help with the transition. This includes having specially trained staff members who will be able to answer viewers questions and local workshops to help people get connected to digital.

The FCC Commissioner then went through an explanation of what is happening, why it's happening and the benefits everyone will receive from the switch from analog to digital. (I think we all know those details, so I won't go into them.) He then explained that if you used cable or satellite with local channels you didn't have to do anything. You were ready for the transition already. If you used an antenna to receive your TV programming then you had to act.

He went into the three possible ways to join the digital world, explaining each quite well:
- buy a new digital TV (doesn't have to be an HDTV)
- sign up for cable or satellite service with local channels
- apply for government coupons (application forms were available) and buy a converter box

The FCC engineer then demonstrated how to connect a convert box to a TV set and tuned in several stations. Everyone oooed and ahhhed about how great the picture looked. "View From The Bay" in HD on KGO looked really good on the analog TV.

They then started taking questions. It seems like most of the people at the meeting knew about the transition and when it was going to happen, and most knew that they had to do something. Several had already got coupons and bought converter boxes. Some had new HDTVs. Some had no problems and everything worked and they were surprised by the picture quality and all the new stations available (sub-channels).

Some people knew about the transition but they hadn't done anything about it. They'll probably put it off until the last minute. When their TV doesn't work, they will be scrambling to find technical assistance and help at a time when everyone else is, and scarcity will be rampant. Until they get what they need, they will have no TV reception at all.

Many in the audience had minor technical problems:
-- the rabbit ear antenna they were using didn't work well for digital reception. They had to buy another antenna.
-- "How do I connect the two leads from my TV antenna to the cable box? It has a different type of antenna terminal."
-- Similar situation: the TV "has two screws where my antenna was connected. I can't connect the cable from the converter box."
(In both of these cases the FCC engineer told them that they needed a "screw terminal to coax converter" or "coax to two screw converter" which are available at Radio Shack. He said the hand outs explained about these in detail and how to connect them.)
-- "I get some of the channels I used to get and they look good, but some channels break up and disappear. Some I don't get at all and I get some channels I never saw before." (They said she needed a better antenna for more reliable reception.)
-- How do I connect things up so that I can record on my VCR? (Connect the convert box to the VCR and watch the output of the VCR on your TV.)
There were several more similar type questions having to do with problems getting things connected and working.

Intermixed with the technical type questions were ones where people complained a lot. It seemed like they didn't want to spend any money. They said things like:
-- they felt the government should pay the full price of the converter box
-- they had three TVs and only could get two coupons... how do they get a converter box for their third TV? (FCC: Find a friend who doesn't need a coupon and have them get one for you.)
-- they found that their rabbit ears didn't work well so they had to spend extra money for an antenna but there aren't any coupons for new antennas
-- coupons are limited to two per address. Only two people in multiple unit apartment buildings could get the coupons. What do the others do?

What came out of the Q&A session for me was:
-- lots of people aren't very technically inclined.
-- some viewers felt the government should completely pay for anything they needed to get the digital TV signals. Instead of being grateful for the coupons, they wanted even more.
-- some won't do anything until they have to.

Disregarding the complainers who want everything for nothing and the ones who won't do anything, the real problem is that TVs have always been simple to set up and use. You just plugged them in, hooked an antenna or cable from your cable company or satellite box to them, and you're done. Instant picture... or some semblance to one with ghosts and snow. Just about anyone can do that. Hooking up a new HDTV or a converter box to your old set is more like hooking up a computer and its peripherals. Connectors may not be right, and you may have to do a software thing or two. You may have to put an antenna on your roof. All this is beyond the capability of some people to do.

With analog you probably got something on your TV, but with digital there's a good chance that you'll get nothing on several channels, even if you have everything connected up correctly. It's either perfect picture or no picture. Many people have household members or friends who can help them, but some really don't know anyone like that. I think that's going to be the biggest problem in the months to come... people having minor problems and not knowing where to turn for answers or help.

Larry
SF

From what I've heard, there's some expensive filtering that has to be done to protect the land mobile stuff immediately below channel 14. I know of four stations off-hand who had their transitional digitals changed to get off of 14, and there's even one station now which is asking for a different frequency in lieu of 14.

Channel 14 also has the lowest average ERP assignments for the UHF band, at 321kW vs. the average of 503kW. Channel 15 is at 472kW on average. The only other channel below 400kW is 23, at 368kW. The channels with the highest average power are: 48 (650), 45 (604) and 51 (603).

On the upper VHF side, channel 10 is lagging behind the others. Current projected averages are:

7: 20.6
8: 23.1
9: 23.3
10: 18.2
11: 27.6
12: 24.0
13: 23.3

Is it simply because 10 is stuck in the middle?

My local NBC affiliate, KCRA 3 in Sacramento is going to run an "Are You Ready for DTV?" test during the 6:30 news this Wednesday. If you're watching them on analog 3 you'll see a graphic that says "Failed. You're not ready for the DTV Transition" and ways to get more information. If you're watching their digital channel you'll see a graphic that says "Passed! You're Ready for the DTV Transition." If this is a one time test then I doubt that many will see it, but if they run it hundreds of times over the next few months maybe it'll be worth it.

They just did that for most all NC stations that have evening news at 6. DBS Providers were STILL on analog - so all those viewers FAILED.

-- coupons are limited to two per address. Only two people in multiple unit apartment buildings could get the coupons. What do the others do?
Is this really true? Is 1000 Main Street Apt. A-203 really considered the "same address" as 1000 Main Street Apt. B-310, where A and B are different buildings in the same complex? That's pretty stupid.

If you're watching them on analog 3 you'll see a graphic that says "Failed. You're not ready for the DTV Transition" and ways to get more information.How unprofessional and tactless of them to put it that way.

If their digital signal doesn't reach the viewer, or the viewer can receive it but just happens to be selecting their analog signal while it still exists, the viewer isn't ready and it's the viewer who failed.  Couldn't they say, "You're watching our analog signal," and then give the ways to get more information?

Yesterday two of our major network O&O's were not getting their digital signal out to my direction for some hours apiece, but if we wanted to watch their fare during that time, their respective analog channels were coming in just fine.  It would have been really rude if they'd conducted such a test and used wording like that, blaming us for their problems.

Add what Scooper said about dish or cable customers whose providers were using the analog feeds, being told likewise that they weren't ready and they failed.

How unprofessional and tactless of them to put it that way.

If their digital signal doesn't reach the viewer, or the viewer can receive it but just happens to be selecting their analog signal while it still exists, the viewer isn't ready and it's the viewer who failed.* Couldn't they say, "You're watching our analog signal," and then give the ways to get more information?

Yesterday two of our major network O&O's were not getting their digital signal out to my direction for some hours apiece, but if we wanted to watch their fare during that time, their respective analog channels were coming in just fine.* It would have been really rude if they'd conducted such a test and used wording like that, blaming us for their problems.

Add what Scooper said about dish or cable customers whose providers were using the analog feeds, being told likewise that they weren't ready and they failed.

Call it what is is: Failure. In the case of cable or DBS customers, the failure is that of the provider, but it is a failed test. Why attempt to obscure the point of the test with silly political correctness?

Call it what is is: Failure. In the case of cable or DBS customers, the failure is that of the provider, but it is a failed test. Why attempt to obscure the point of the test with silly political correctness?

I agree. "Failed" or "you are not ready" says a lot more than "You are watching our analog signal."

A lot more direct wording is needed if we want to try and avoid much more "unprofessional" words being uttered by millions in a few months.

I picked up lunch in a cafe this afternoon. They had an analog TV there watching a staticy picture. They were aware of the transition but were putting it off. I told them that they should get a box now for it. I doubt the message sank in, so I might bring something by next time I'm there.

Is this really true? Is 1000 Main Street Apt. A-203 really considered the "same address" as 1000 Main Street Apt. B-310, where A and B are different buildings in the same complex? That's pretty stupid.

I must have missed this point the 1st time I read it. What about apartment buildings with several hundred residents? They only get 2 for the whole building?! If so, all the users of MATV systems are in for a dreadful shock? I thought a 90 day expiration was bad enough... though it makes me wonder how many apartment dwellers have tried to order coupons already.

As I have said, more translators and/or SFN's/DTS's will be needed, but as we know, ATSC isn't all that great for SFN's.

Current ATSC SFN's are experimental and I don't think most stations want to be pioneers. It is my understanding that all of the proposed mobile ATSC standards contain a provision to improve SFN's even with existing ATSC receivers but adoption of such a provision requires FCC action. New translators require open frequencies and new licenses. I don't hear Chairman Martin making any public statements about such issues that are important to a successful transition. As for apartment dwellers and the coupons I think it depends on what the Postal Service considers their official address.

I must have missed this point the 1st time I read it. What about apartment buildings with several hundred residents? They only get 2 for the whole building?! If so, all the users of MATV systems are in for a dreadful shock? I thought a 90 day expiration was bad enough... though it makes me wonder how many apartment dwellers have tried to order coupons already.

No, separate apartments in a building can each apply for a coupon. The only time it's a problem is when you have multiple residents who all get their mail delivered to the exact same postal address (IE the mail is sorted by the staff of the residence rather than the post office).

You might be surprised how many stations have implemented SFN/DTS.

WPSU-DT (not yet complete, but they have one of three repeaters up)
WVPT-DT/WVPY-DT
WTVE-DT
WPIX-DT
KTDO-DT

Other stations have applied to do so, or have stated they will build DTS facilites once the transition is over:
WSTE-DT
KYES-DT
KHIZ-DT

And there are a few stations that are operating a "DTS" legally but only have a single booster station to cover a major city:
WNJU-DT
WPXN-DT
KMCC-DT

I know that the WTVE-DT one works pretty well, and is one of the few which fills in a whole area (WVPT/WVPY does this too, but I haven't seen it work nearly as well). Others usually just fill in major cities and whatnot.

- Trip

You might be surprised how many stations have implemented SFN/DTS.

WPSU-DT (not yet complete, but they have one of three repeaters up)
WVPT-DT/WVPY-DT
WTVE-DT
WPIX-DT
KTDO-DT

Other stations have applied to do so, or have stated they will build DTS facilites once the transition is over:
WSTE-DT
KYES-DT
KHIZ-DT

And there are a few stations that are operating a "DTS" legally but only have a single booster station to cover a major city:
WNJU-DT
WPXN-DT
KMCC-DT

I know that the WTVE-DT one works pretty well, and is one of the few which fills in a whole area (WVPT/WVPY does this too, but I haven't seen it work nearly as well). Others usually just fill in major cities and whatnot.

- Trip

I'm hoping more will do the same, in the mountains of South Central PA the VHF's from Baltimore/DC and Lancaster have never been a problem, but as we know the higher the frequency the harder time it has getting over the mountains.
I had been told by the engineer at Fox 43 in York they are planning one once the transition is complete on Blue Ridge Summit. I had also contacted the Engineer at WITF in Harrisburg, currently than had no plans to replace their analog translator,(W38AN is the one I watch from Chambersburg) this is why a pass-through converter or a tv with both tuners are going to be important to so many.

Call it what is is: Failure. In the case of cable or DBS customers, the failure is that of the provider, but it is a failed test. Why attempt to obscure the point of the test with silly political correctness?Tossing out the buzzterm "political correctness" doesn't excuse unnecessary rudeness, and that language is unnecessarily rude.

Since you can't understand the notion of courtesy, perhaps you can understand the notion of money.  It's not good for the station's bottom line to talk coarsely to viewers.  They shouldn't be coddled either; a compromise is possible.

Falcon_77 is right that my suggestion fails (yes, fails) to get the point across that the viewer has to do take some action.  But it doesn't have to be insulting and belittling either.

It could be something like, "You are watching our analog broadcast.  Make sure that by February 17, 2009, you will be ready to receive our digital signal."  It allows that the viewer might be ready now (instead of "you are not ready") and doesn't use putdowns like "failure."

FYI... From the Sacramento OTA AVS Forum thread:

In preparation for the Feb. 17, 2009, transition to digital television, KCRA 3 and KQCA My 58 TV will conduct the Sacramento market's first DTV test so that viewers can determine if their television sets are ready to receive digital signals.

During these tests, station officials will temporarily turn off the analog signal, and transmit only a digital signal to the Sacramento, Stockton and Modesto area.

The test will take place on KCRA 3 on Wednesday, Sept. 24, during KCRA 3 Reports at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday, Sept. 25, the test will take place on KQCA My58 TV during KCRA 3 News at 8 a.m.

For all the details go to:
http://www.kcra.com/dtv/17516785/detail.html

Tossing out the buzzterm "political correctness" doesn't excuse unnecessary rudeness, and that language is unnecessarily rude.

Since you can't understand the notion of courtesy, perhaps you can understand the notion of money.* It's not good for the station's bottom line to talk coarsely to viewers.* They shouldn't be coddled either; a compromise is possible.

Falcon_77 is right that my suggestion fails (yes, fails) to get the point across that the viewer has to do take some action.* But it doesn't have to be insulting and belittling either.

It could be something like, "You are watching our analog broadcast.* Make sure that by February 17, 2009, you will be ready to receive our digital signal."* It allows that the viewer might be ready now (instead of "you are not ready") and doesn't use putdowns like "failure."

I'm not a fan of turning these forum threads into flamewars, so this is a final response on this topic.

Tossing out the buzzterm "political correctness" doesn't excuse unnecessary rudeness
A "pass/fail" notice is simple, direct, and accurate. It is not a value judgment on the user, rather a status report on the receiving equipment. It is not rude.

Since you can't understand the notion of courtesy, perhaps you can understand the notion of money.
I understand both concepts quite well, thank you. The viewers are not the customers; they are the product. TV stations need viewers to sell to their customers, the advertisers. It is in their financial best interest to do whatever they can to maximize the number of viewers. Using a simple, direct approach is designed to get viewers' attention so that they take action now and not wait until next February, so that they can be counted next March during the Nielsen "sweeps" that set advertising rates for local stations.

But it doesn't have to be insulting and belittling either.
Again, clearly stating that a receiver "passes" or "fails" the digital reception test is simple fact describing the condition of the equipment, not the viewer. I fail to see how anyone could infer the television station is impugning the intelligence or character of a viewer through the use of this simple test.

We see this differently. Let us then agree to disagree.

I do think we can agree this transition could have been handled much better.

http://www.kcra.com/dtv/17516785/detail.html

I like this message as it says "this television" instead of "you." I think that it is direct, while not placing the blame on the viewer (it's your TV that's at fault).

I will use this template to try again with local stations as I think the LA market really needs to get something going.

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 46 for DTV Channel 19 for Station WHNT-DT. (Dkt No. 08-194, RM-11488). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/12/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2117). MB DA-08-2117A1.doc DA-08-2117A1.pdf DA-08-2117A1.txt

ERRATUM -AMENDMENT OF SECTION 73.622(I) FINAL DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, TELEVISION BROADCAST STATIONS, (SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA). Issued an Erratum correcting Report and Order, DA 08-2032, released September 3, 2008. (Dkt No. RM-11455, 08-118). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau by ERRATUM. MB DOC-285557A1.doc DOC-285557A1.pdf DOC-285557A1.txt

I like this message as it says "this television" instead of "you." I think that it is direct, while not placing the blame on the viewer (it's your TV that's at fault).Complicating matters, it may not even be your TV. At least out here, D* and E* get local channels over-the-air for retransmission, and each station probably doesn't have a fiber feed to every cable headend in the market. So a lot of TVs could "fail" such a test even though they're probably ready -- assuming the cable company is ready to take the station's DT, of course, but you'd think they of all people would know about 2-17-09.

We see this differently. Let us then agree to disagree.

I do think we can agree this transition could have been handled much better.
Yes, and yes.

FYI... From the Sacramento OTA AVS Forum thread:

For all the details go to:
http://www.kcra.com/dtv/17516785/detail.html

I like this message as it says "this television" instead of "you." I think that it is direct, while not placing the blame on the viewer (it's your TV that's at fault).

Agreed.  That's immeasurably better.  Consider the case where a viewer with a setup ready for DTV is choosing to watch the analog feed for some reason; even then, "this television failed the test" comes as no surprise and no insult.

Microsoft, Google and other members of the misnamed Wireless Innovation Alliance are still trying to steal valuable television spectrum and have named Thursday "White Spaces Day". Shouldn't the FCC have a moratorium until at least 2012 after the completion of the digital transition on even considering unlicensed white space devices. We still don't know how many full power stations will need additional translators and most of the nearly 7000 licensed Class A, Low Power, and Translator stations will still be analog next February. If a mobile ATSC standard is adopted frequencies for new licenses may also be needed for that. IMHO the only reason the unlicensed white space device proponents want such quick approval of such devices before the successful completion of the digital transition is they know they will cause OTA reception problems.

Shouldn't the FCC have a moratorium until at least 2012 after the completion of the digital transition on even considering unlicensed white space devices. We still don't know how many full power stations will need additional translators and most of the nearly 7000 licensed Class A, Low Power, and Translator stations will still be analog next February.

Yes the FCC should put its foot down and delay this until well after the transition. 2012 is probably a good time to open it up for consideration again.

If these companies want new wireless frequencies so badly, maybe they should have been more serious in bidding on the recently auctioned spectrum? I can't imagine companies like Verizon are very pleased with Google.

Saying WSD's are ok because wireless microphone exists is a farce. Wireless microphones are for very short range reception when WSD's, presumably, will have to be able to communicate over a few miles. I don't want a TV station in my neighbors house, thank you.

Having only 44 useful channels doesn't allow us the opportunity to compromise what little we have left. Anyone who has studied channel changes around the Philadelphia to Baltimore regions must be shaking their heads about all this "space" that the WSD coalition claims.

Yes the FCC should put its foot down and delay this until well after the transition. 2012 is probably a good time to open it up for consideration again.

If these companies want new wireless frequencies so badly, maybe they should have been more serious in bidding on the recently auctioned spectrum? I can't imagine companies like Verizon are very pleased with Google.

Saying WSD's are ok because wireless microphone exists is a farce. Wireless microphones are for very short range reception when WSD's, presumably, will have to be able to communicate over a few miles. I don't want a TV station in my neighbors house, thank you.

Having only 44 useful channels doesn't allow us the opportunity to compromise what little we have left. Anyone who has studied channel changes around the Philadelphia to Baltimore regions must be shaking their heads about all this "space" that the WSD coalition claims.

You forgot Land Mobile that makes it less than 44 in some of the places the spectrum is needed the most.

We made the switch to Digital here in Northern Utah and we Love it!

However, I can't figure out what channels we should/could be receiving from the translator on Mount Pisgah.

We run the scan and it picks up the same channels each time, but I wonder if there are other channes I'm missing with my antenna location.

Is there some list somewhere of what I should have access to???

Is there some list somewhere of what I should have access to???
Try tvfool.com

You forgot Land Mobile that makes it less than 44 in some of the places the spectrum is needed the most.

Yes, indeed. Land Mobile reduces the LA area to 37 as we can't use 14-17 and 19-21 locally, due to LM assignments on 14, 16 & 20. Philadelphia is subject to LM assignments on the full 14-20 range as it has assignments in New York and Washington, DC that it also needs to protect. I would prefer to see these assignments moved as they are in the markets that are in most need of additional channels.

Are WSD's going to "protect" LM allocations as well? :rolleyes:

We made the switch to Digital here in Northern Utah and we Love it!

However, I can't figure out what channels we should/could be receiving from the translator on Mount Pisgah.

We run the scan and it picks up the same channels each time, but I wonder if there are other channes I'm missing with my antenna location.

Is there some list somewhere of what I should have access to???

http://www.rabbitears.info/market.php?mktid=265

My site. Enjoy. =) (Note that 12 is not currently on the air)

- Trip

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1267505&Service=DT&Form_id=2&Facility_id=13792

Would someone care to explain to me just what this is, and why KTGF thinks it's legal?

Well, okay, I can clearly read it and know what it is, but... it's mind-numbingly senseless. My brain explodes from the non-sensical filing.

- Trip

I read an article by John Dunbar called "Digital TV Transition Concerns Get Technical" that was linked on the local Yahoo HD Group today - http://my.earthlink.net/article/nat?guid=20080923/48d869c0_3ca6_15526200809231578069855 - and I found the following to be rather interesting.

Dunbar wrote the following regarding the analog shutdown in Wilmington, NC: "The largest number of calls to the FCC were from viewers of the NBC affiliate, WECT-TV. That station's analog broadcast covers far more ground than its digital signal, meaning some viewers could watch that channel before the switchover but not afterward."

As I understood the situation, stations were supposed to get a digital assignment that gave them the equivalent coverage of their analog signal. What happened here? If the WECT digital signal doesn't match the analog, they've got to expect that a lot of people won't be able to pick up the signal. Duh?

Larry
SF

As I understood the situation, stations were supposed to get a digital assignment that gave them the equivalent coverage of their analog signal. What happened here? If the WECT digital signal doesn't match the analog, they've got to expect that a lot of people won't be able to pick up the signal. Duh?

Larry
SF
Even a digital UHF station with 1000kw ERP can not replicate the analog coverage of a 100kw low VHF station and WECT is only 710kw with a directional pattern that makes it even less for some directions. WECT isn't alone in not replicating its analog coverage although there are also many stations that are actually increasing their digital coverage compared to their UHF analog coverage.

WECT moved their transmitter 34 miles from their analog tower. They covered large portions of the Raleigh DMA and had poor analog service in Wilmington proper.

- Trip

WECT moved their transmitter 34 miles from their analog tower. They covered large portions of the Raleigh DMA and had poor analog service in Wilmington proper.

- Trip
That explains why some people 100 miles away from Wilmington could receive their analog signal. Their total digital coverage is still less than their analog coverage if people were willing to accept an awful analog picture.

That explains why some people 100 miles away from Wilmington could receive their analog signal. Their total digital coverage is still less than their analog coverage if people were willing to accept an awful analog picture.

WECT-TV covered major pieces of 4 DMAs. Their analog tower was built back in the day before there were Nielsen DMA's and TV in southeastern NC was about 3 TV stations in a 150 mile area. The Wilmington DMA today has 5 TV stations alone more than naking up for what WECT did back in the day. The Wilmington DMA is now only 6 counties in the extreme southeastern corner of NC and WECT-DT is centered for those 6 counties. People who live outside of the Wilmington DMA are covered by other stations now that didn't exist when WECT TV built their analog tower. It is a case of WECT adjusting their digital signal to match the market and people in the other DMA's are loosing out.

http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1267505&Service=DT&Form_id=2&Facility_id=13792

Would someone care to explain to me just what this is, and why KTGF thinks it's legal?

Well, okay, I can clearly read it and know what it is, but... it's mind-numbingly senseless. My brain explodes from the non-sensical filing.

- Trip

First blush, the technical section isn't complete and that is enough for the FCC to kick it back. I don't see a CP number reference either so I have no idea what is going on here.

WECT-TV covered major pieces of 4 DMAs. Their analog tower was built back in the day before there were Nielsen DMA's and TV in southeastern NC was about 3 TV stations in a 150 mile area. The Wilmington DMA today has 5 TV stations alone more than naking up for what WECT did back in the day. The Wilmington DMA is now only 6 counties in the extreme southeastern corner of NC and WECT-DT is centered for those 6 counties. People who live outside of the Wilmington DMA are covered by other stations now that didn't exist when WECT TV built their analog tower. It is a case of WECT adjusting their digital signal to match the market and people in the other DMA's are loosing out.

WECT is still available on cable in areas that are outside of it's digital signal range. I know it is still available on TW in Fayetteville NC because I have seen it. I believe all the cable operators that had them on their system before analog ceased got hooked up to fiber. It seems to be only people with antennas that are missing out. I can only imagine the calls that would have come in if cable service areas on the fringe had lost this channel also.

One percent of Wilmington households sought help following transition
Sep 23, 2008 8:00 AM



FCC Chairman Kevin Martin reported to the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet Sept. 16 that 1 percent of the households in Wilmington, NC, called the commission’s toll-free help line for assistance following the city’s DTV transition Sept. 8.

Of the 1828 calls received, the chairman told the subcommittee, 329 were related to converter boxes. According to Martin, he directed commission engineers and outreach staff to work with viewers to correct their problems. Of the converter box issues in Wilmington, FCC staff resolved 80 percent of the problems, he said. Many problems were relatively simple to correct, requiring viewers to take steps such as rescanning the channels on their televisions or hooking up the box properly, he said.

A bigger issue — one that is not easily correctable for those in the Wilmington metro area — is the loss of reception of WECT, the NBC affiliate. According to Martin, the station’s DTV coverage pattern is different from its analog pattern, which left some viewers between Raleigh, NC, and Myrtle Beach, SC, without coverage. In all, the help line received 553 calls related to the issue, he said.

The DTV cliff effect was not a major factor responsible for reception problems, Martin said. Even if all of the 397 calls related to reception problems that weren’t caused by WECT’s change in coverage contour resulted from the cliff effect, that means less than 0.25 percent of viewers in the Wilmington market fell of the DTV cliff, he said.

Before reporting the result of the Wilmington transition, Martin credited Commissioner Michael Copps for challenging him and the industry to conduct early DTV transitions so lessons could be learned that will help with the February 2009 nationwide digital switchover. “Commissioner Copps deserves credit for urging the commission to engage in a real-world test that would help ready the broadcasters, viewers and us for the upcoming transition,” he said in prepared remarks.

http://www.broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/one-percent-wilmington-househoulds-help-transition-0923/index.html

Committee approves standard for AVC within ATSC transmission
Sep 24, 2008 9:45 AM


As of Sept. 15, the Advanced Television Systems Committee approved and published A/72, which details the methodology to use Advanced Video Coding (AVC) within an ATSC DTV transmission.

AVC, which was developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group together with the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group, is also known as H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 10. The A/72 Standard defines constraints with respect to AVC, compression format restraints, low delay and still picture modes and bit stream specifications. It also specifies how CEA-708 closed-captioning is carried in an AVC bit stream.

The new standard is in two parts. Part 1 is titled “Video System and Characteristics of AVC in the ATSC Digital Television System," and Part 2 is titled “AVC Video Transport Subsystem Characteristics."

According to ATSC President Mark Richer, the standard will be “especially important” in countries that haven’t yet settled on a digital television standard. AVC also is an important part of the ATSC-M/H mobile, handheld standard and ATSC-NRT for non-real time program delivery.

For more information, visit www.atsc.org.

http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/committee-approves-standard-avc-atsc-transmission-0924/

Here's a weird one. KFTL-DT at 2 watts ERP.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=168293

Ron

This digital station is low power, and man that's even lower than 11-meter CB radio's power output on antenna gain!!:eek::D

It's realy called KFTL-LD not DT "Full Power"

I wonder how much it cost to buy the 8VSB transmitter, for ham radio use in 420 to 440 MHz range for DATV?:D

9-24-08

Amateurs in Europe are on the air with digital television.

http://www.sr-systems.de/V02/content.php?show=DVB-Tx&lng=en&style=std

Ron

It appears that in a few days KMBC in Kansas City will be allowed by the FCC to move their post-transition channel number from 9 to 29.

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/09/dtv-alert-kmbc.html

Thanks dr1394, for the information on DATV stuff from Europe!!:)

73's!!!

9-24-08

WYDO-DT's move to 47 has been granted.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-2148A1.pdf

- Trip

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. SECTION 73.622(I), KEARNEY, NEBRASKA. Proposed Change for Station KHGI-DT's DTV Channel from 36 to 13. (Dkt No. RM-11486, 08-199). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/19/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2147). MB DA-08-2147A1.doc DA-08-2147A1.pdf DA-08-2147A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA. Changed Station WYDO-DT's DTV Channel from 14 to 47. Proceeding Terminated. (Dkt No. RM-11465, 08-133). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/23/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2148). MB DA-08-2148A1.doc DA-08-2148A1.pdf DA-08-2148A1.txt

This digital station is low power, and man that's even lower than 11-meter CB radio's power output on antenna gain!!:eek::D

It's realy called KFTL-LD not DT "Full Power"

9-24-08

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=LD1166712.html

Actually, it's 1.6 watts, actual output 1 watt, half of their "broadcast area" is over water, and the signal is blocked to the west by hills!

A CB transmitter would blow this thing out of the water in terms of coverage!

We had a channel 10 in north-central Illinois at 50 watts, and I could still lock it 30 miles out. But good grief, that was VHF. On channel 24, that will go 1 mile!

Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
DTV Consumer Education Initiative
)
)
)
)
MB Docket No. 07-148
ORDER
Adopted: September 24, 2008 Released: September 24, 2008
By the Chief, Media Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. WSFX-TV, WECT-TV, and WWAY-TV (“the Stations”) are full-power stations subject
to the Commission’s requirements regarding consumer education about the DTV transition1 and early
termination of analog broadcast service.2 As the only such participants in the first-in-the-nation
Wilmington test market,3 the Stations have worked closely with the Commission to establish an early
transition date for the Wilmington market, and to educate Wilmington consumers about this early
transition. Due in no small part to the dedicated efforts of the Stations, Wilmington has successfully
become the first and only market to complete its transition to digital. As a result, these participating
stations seek, and we grant, formal approval for early termination of their analog service and DTV
consumer education efforts.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Early Termination of Analog Broadcast Service
2. In the Third Periodic, we announced that stations would be permitted to cease analog
broadcasting prior to February 17, 2009, but only upon seeking and obtaining approval from the Media
Bureau by demonstrating good cause, and after educating their viewers about the planned service
termination.4 Pursuant to the policy established in the Third Periodic, each of the Stations has
individually filed a Request for Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) with the Commission, seeking

1 In the Matter of DTV Consumer Education Initiative, Report and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 4134, MB Docket No. 07-
148 (Mar. 3, 2008) (“DTV Consumer Education Order”).
2 In the Matter of Third Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital
Television, MB Docket 07-91, Report and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 2994, ¶¶115-117 (2007) (“Third Periodic”).
3 The commercial broadcasters serving the Wilmington television market voluntarily agreed to turn off their analog
signals at noon on September 8, 2008. This test market is an early transition that is giving broadcasters and
consumers a chance to experience in advance the upcoming DTV transition.
4 Third Periodic at ¶¶115-117. After November 19, 2008, stations may terminate or reduce analog service before
February 17, 2009, without prior Commission approval but must notify the Commission and viewers in advance.
See, Third Periodic ¶¶ 133-134.
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
2
permission to terminate analog programming on September 8, 2008, and all analog service at a later date.5
The Stations note and the Commission recognizes that, because of Wilmington’s unique position as the
nation’s DTV transition test market, they do not seek an immediate cessation of all analog service. For
technical, educational, and public safety purposes, the analog signal of these stations will remain on the
air through at least the end of September.6 Nonetheless, the analog signals will carry no regular
programming after the September 8 transition, instead carrying only DTV transition educational
information and emergency information if necessary.
3. As noted, the Third Periodic requires not only Commission permission for early
termination of analog service; it also requires that stations notify viewers of that termination four times a
day for the 60 days leading up to the termination.7 The Stations note in their filings that they have been
engaging in extensive consumer education and providing regular viewer notifications regarding the early
transition of the Wilmington market and this termination of analog service since May of this year,
significantly more than 60 days prior to the planned termination of analog service on September 30.8
Furthermore, we note that September 8 was the final day of the DTV transition for these three stations, in
their unique position as part of the first-in-the-nation market-wide transition in Wilmington.
4. After a thorough review of these requests, we conclude that the public interest would be
served by a grant of the requests made by each of the station licensees. Therefore, not earlier than
September 30, 2008: Southeastern Media Holdings, Inc. may terminate all analog operations on WSFX-
TV; WECT License Subsidiary, LLC may terminate all analog operations on WECT-TV; and WWAY-
TV, LLC may terminate all analog operations on WWAY-TV.9 Furthermore, each of these licensees has
already provided ample viewer notification, as required by the Third Periodic. The Stations are providing
continuing notifications about their local transition 24 hours a day on their analog channels through at
least September 30, 2008, 10 and are not required to provide any additional notifications regarding these
service terminations.

5 WWAY-TV, File No. 20080903AAH (filed Sept. 3, 2008).; WECT-TV, File No. 20080905AAJ (filed Sept. 5,
2008).; WSFX-TV, File No. 20080905AAK (filed Sept. 5, 2008).
6 FCC Press Release, “Wilmington Broadcasters Will Provide Emergency Announcements And Informational
Messages About The DTV Transition After September 8 On Traditional Analog Channels” (Aug. 18, 2008).
7 Third Periodic at ¶ 117.
8 Furthermore, the Stations have gone beyond the requirements of either the DTV consumer education rules or the
Third Periodic. For example, WECT has maintained a 24-hour helpline; WWAY has run almost-daily news stories;
and WSFX has sent its general manager to speak to groups throughout Wilmington. WECT Letter (filed Sept. 10,
2008); WWAY Letter (filed Sept. 11, 2008); WSFX Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008). See also, ¶ 7, infra, discussing
station efforts in more detail.
9 WWAY-TV is the only one of the Stations that is contemplating continuing analog service into October, but all of
the Stations note that they may delay termination of their analog signal in order to provide information to the public
in an emergency situation. We note that, with respect to radio frequency radiation (“RFR”), we expect compliance
with Section 1.1307(b) of the Commission’s Rules to be achieved.
10 As the Commission’s August 18, 2008, press release notes, stations that transition at the conclusion of the
Nation’s transition on February 17, 2009, will not be able to retain analog signals for any purpose, including
emergency broadcasts. Wilmington stations and viewers, however, will be able to receive emergency
announcements, and other informational messages about the DTV transition on traditional analog channels. This is a
benefit of their participation in the early transition. The regular message that will be provided on the Wilmington
analog stations reads:
(continued….)
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
3
B. Early Termination of Consumer Education Obligations
5. The Stations have also filed Requests for Waivers of the Commission’s Rules requiring
broadcasters to engage in on-air DTV transition education efforts.11 They argue that, because the
Wilmington transition, unlike that of every other market in the nation, will be complete by September 8,
they should not be required to engage in on-air consumer education efforts after that date. The licensees
of WECT-TV and WSFX-TV also seek a waiver of the requirement to file Form 388 (consumer education
report) covering any period after September 8. We grant the Stations’ requested waivers, and find that
continued consumer education efforts that continue for a short time after September 8 via the Stations’
analog signals, along with Form 388 reporting efforts for the third quarter of 2008, are in the public
interest, and that no additional consumer education efforts are necessary.
6. The DTV transition consumer education requirements set forth in Section 73.674 of the
Commission’s Rules do not apply indefinitely, but rather are tied to the conclusion of the transition
itself.12 Since Wilmington, alone among television markets, is concluding its transition early, the Stations
argue that their consumer education obligations should conclude early as well. They note that September
8 is the last day of the Wilmington transition, and no analog programming will be available in the
Wilmington market after that date. Instead of programming, the Stations will provide DTV consumer
education information via their analog transmitters, for at least the remainder of the month of September.
The Wilmington Stations are thus going to continue reaching over-the-air analog viewers throughout their
market, and providing valuable, targeted, education and information about the transition to the very
consumers who most need it. Given the Stations’ extraordinary pre-transition consumer education
efforts,13 their commitment to providing consumer education through at least the end of the third quarter
via their analog signal, and the market-wide transition to digital on September 8 in Wilmington, we find
that the public interest will be served by granting the Stations’ waiver requests. We therefore waive the
DTV transition consumer education requirements set forth in Section 73.674 of our Rules for each of the
Stations, effective September 8, 2008.
(Continued from previous page)
“At 12 noon on September 8, 2008, commercial television stations in Wilmington, North Carolina began to
broadcast programming exclusively in a digital format.
If you are viewing this message, this television set has not yet been upgraded to digital.
To receive your television signals, upgrade to digital now with a converter box, a new TV set with a digital
(ATSC) tuner or by subscribing to a pay service like cable or satellite.
For more information call:1-877-DTV-0908 or TTY:1-866-644-0908 or visit www.DTVWilmington.com.”
11 47 C.F.R. § 73.674.
12 47 C.F.R. § 73.674(b)(3).
13 We note that the Stations have engaged in extensive and wide-ranging consumer education efforts stretching far
beyond the requirements of our Rules. These range from: participation in community festivals, like the Cape Fear
Blues Festival and the Battleship Blast Independence Day celebration; direct consumer assistance at events like the
Carolina Beach Fest and DTV Expo; daily news stories and “countdown clocks”; working with religious
organizations to train volunteers for in-home converter box installation assistance; and working with Wilmington
Latino media to support efforts to inform the Hispanic community; to WECT’s provision of live DTV information
and assistance, 24 hours a day, through a telephone hotline. WECT Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008); WWAY Letter
(filed Sept. 11, 2008); WSFX Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008).
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
4
7. As noted above, two of the Stations sought a waiver of the requirement to file Form 388,
the DTV Transition Education Report, for the periods of time in which they have no educational
obligation. We find that no interest is served by requiring the Stations to file reports addressing expired
obligations, and therefore waive the requirement for any of the Stations to complete and file Form 388 as
it applies to periods after the conclusion of their mandatory education efforts. We note that these stations
may file Form 388 for the fourth quarter and beyond to reflect voluntary consumer education outreach,
particularly if they continue to provide educational information via their analog signal. However, we will
waive the requirements of Section 73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of our Rules effective October 11, 2008, and not
require them to file Form 388 for periods after the third quarter of 2008.
III. CONCLUSION
8. The unique circumstances surrounding the early DTV transition of the Wilmington, NC
market places WSFX-TV, WECT-TV, and WWAY-TV in a position wholly unlike that of any other
station in the country. Therefore, we grant the Stations’ STA requests to terminate analog service no
earlier than September 30, 2008. The Stations first discussed these terminations with the Commission in
April of 2008, and since they were announced publicly on May 8, 2008, the Stations have provided
regular detailed notices to viewers explaining the early termination and the actions those viewers must
take to continue viewing the Stations’ signals. As noted, this education will continue by the broadcast of
notices on the analog service through the termination of the analog signal. Therefore, we find the Stations
in compliance with the analog termination viewer notification requirements established in the Third
Periodic. Finally, we grant each of the Stations a waiver of the consumer education requirements in
Section 73.674 of our Rules, and of the consumer education reporting requirements in Section
73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of our Rules, to the extent that they require consumer education after September 30,
2008, and reporting on consumer education efforts that take place after the third quarter of 2008.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
9. IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to the authority contained in Sections 1, 4, and 303 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154, 303, and Sections 1.3 and 73.1635 of
the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.3 and 73.1635, this Report and Order IS ADOPTED and a
limited waiver of Sections 73.674 and 73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§
73.674 and 73.3526(e)(11)(iv), IS GRANTED to the licensees of WSFX-TV, WSFX-DT, WECT-TV,
WECT-DT, WWAY-TV, and WWAY-DT for the operation of those stations.
10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the request of Southeastern Media Holdings, Inc. to
terminate all analog operations on WSFX-TV not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No.
20080905AAK) IS GRANTED; that the request of WECT License Subsidiary, LLC to terminate all
analog operations on WECT-TV not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No. 20080905AAJ) IS
GRANTED; and that the request of WWAY-TV, LLC to terminate all analog operations on WWAY-TV
not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No. 20080903AAH) IS GRANTED.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Monica Shah Desai
Chief, Media Bureau

Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
Before the
Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
In the Matter of
DTV Consumer Education Initiative
)
)
)
)
MB Docket No. 07-148
ORDER
Adopted: September 24, 2008 Released: September 24, 2008
By the Chief, Media Bureau:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. WSFX-TV, WECT-TV, and WWAY-TV (“the Stations”) are full-power stations subject
to the Commission’s requirements regarding consumer education about the DTV transition1 and early
termination of analog broadcast service.2 As the only such participants in the first-in-the-nation
Wilmington test market,3 the Stations have worked closely with the Commission to establish an early
transition date for the Wilmington market, and to educate Wilmington consumers about this early
transition. Due in no small part to the dedicated efforts of the Stations, Wilmington has successfully
become the first and only market to complete its transition to digital. As a result, these participating
stations seek, and we grant, formal approval for early termination of their analog service and DTV
consumer education efforts.
II. DISCUSSION
A. Early Termination of Analog Broadcast Service
2. In the Third Periodic, we announced that stations would be permitted to cease analog
broadcasting prior to February 17, 2009, but only upon seeking and obtaining approval from the Media
Bureau by demonstrating good cause, and after educating their viewers about the planned service
termination.4 Pursuant to the policy established in the Third Periodic, each of the Stations has
individually filed a Request for Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) with the Commission, seeking

1 In the Matter of DTV Consumer Education Initiative, Report and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 4134, MB Docket No. 07-
148 (Mar. 3, 2008) (“DTV Consumer Education Order”).
2 In the Matter of Third Periodic Review of the Commission’s Rules and Policies Affecting the Conversion to Digital
Television, MB Docket 07-91, Report and Order, 23 FCC Rcd 2994, ¶¶115-117 (2007) (“Third Periodic”).
3 The commercial broadcasters serving the Wilmington television market voluntarily agreed to turn off their analog
signals at noon on September 8, 2008. This test market is an early transition that is giving broadcasters and
consumers a chance to experience in advance the upcoming DTV transition.
4 Third Periodic at ¶¶115-117. After November 19, 2008, stations may terminate or reduce analog service before
February 17, 2009, without prior Commission approval but must notify the Commission and viewers in advance.
See, Third Periodic ¶¶ 133-134.
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
2
permission to terminate analog programming on September 8, 2008, and all analog service at a later date.5
The Stations note and the Commission recognizes that, because of Wilmington’s unique position as the
nation’s DTV transition test market, they do not seek an immediate cessation of all analog service. For
technical, educational, and public safety purposes, the analog signal of these stations will remain on the
air through at least the end of September.6 Nonetheless, the analog signals will carry no regular
programming after the September 8 transition, instead carrying only DTV transition educational
information and emergency information if necessary.
3. As noted, the Third Periodic requires not only Commission permission for early
termination of analog service; it also requires that stations notify viewers of that termination four times a
day for the 60 days leading up to the termination.7 The Stations note in their filings that they have been
engaging in extensive consumer education and providing regular viewer notifications regarding the early
transition of the Wilmington market and this termination of analog service since May of this year,
significantly more than 60 days prior to the planned termination of analog service on September 30.8
Furthermore, we note that September 8 was the final day of the DTV transition for these three stations, in
their unique position as part of the first-in-the-nation market-wide transition in Wilmington.
4. After a thorough review of these requests, we conclude that the public interest would be
served by a grant of the requests made by each of the station licensees. Therefore, not earlier than
September 30, 2008: Southeastern Media Holdings, Inc. may terminate all analog operations on WSFX-
TV; WECT License Subsidiary, LLC may terminate all analog operations on WECT-TV; and WWAY-
TV, LLC may terminate all analog operations on WWAY-TV.9 Furthermore, each of these licensees has
already provided ample viewer notification, as required by the Third Periodic. The Stations are providing
continuing notifications about their local transition 24 hours a day on their analog channels through at
least September 30, 2008, 10 and are not required to provide any additional notifications regarding these
service terminations.

5 WWAY-TV, File No. 20080903AAH (filed Sept. 3, 2008).; WECT-TV, File No. 20080905AAJ (filed Sept. 5,
2008).; WSFX-TV, File No. 20080905AAK (filed Sept. 5, 2008).
6 FCC Press Release, “Wilmington Broadcasters Will Provide Emergency Announcements And Informational
Messages About The DTV Transition After September 8 On Traditional Analog Channels” (Aug. 18, 2008).
7 Third Periodic at ¶ 117.
8 Furthermore, the Stations have gone beyond the requirements of either the DTV consumer education rules or the
Third Periodic. For example, WECT has maintained a 24-hour helpline; WWAY has run almost-daily news stories;
and WSFX has sent its general manager to speak to groups throughout Wilmington. WECT Letter (filed Sept. 10,
2008); WWAY Letter (filed Sept. 11, 2008); WSFX Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008). See also, ¶ 7, infra, discussing
station efforts in more detail.
9 WWAY-TV is the only one of the Stations that is contemplating continuing analog service into October, but all of
the Stations note that they may delay termination of their analog signal in order to provide information to the public
in an emergency situation. We note that, with respect to radio frequency radiation (“RFR”), we expect compliance
with Section 1.1307(b) of the Commission’s Rules to be achieved.
10 As the Commission’s August 18, 2008, press release notes, stations that transition at the conclusion of the
Nation’s transition on February 17, 2009, will not be able to retain analog signals for any purpose, including
emergency broadcasts. Wilmington stations and viewers, however, will be able to receive emergency
announcements, and other informational messages about the DTV transition on traditional analog channels. This is a
benefit of their participation in the early transition. The regular message that will be provided on the Wilmington
analog stations reads:
(continued….)
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
3
B. Early Termination of Consumer Education Obligations
5. The Stations have also filed Requests for Waivers of the Commission’s Rules requiring
broadcasters to engage in on-air DTV transition education efforts.11 They argue that, because the
Wilmington transition, unlike that of every other market in the nation, will be complete by September 8,
they should not be required to engage in on-air consumer education efforts after that date. The licensees
of WECT-TV and WSFX-TV also seek a waiver of the requirement to file Form 388 (consumer education
report) covering any period after September 8. We grant the Stations’ requested waivers, and find that
continued consumer education efforts that continue for a short time after September 8 via the Stations’
analog signals, along with Form 388 reporting efforts for the third quarter of 2008, are in the public
interest, and that no additional consumer education efforts are necessary.
6. The DTV transition consumer education requirements set forth in Section 73.674 of the
Commission’s Rules do not apply indefinitely, but rather are tied to the conclusion of the transition
itself.12 Since Wilmington, alone among television markets, is concluding its transition early, the Stations
argue that their consumer education obligations should conclude early as well. They note that September
8 is the last day of the Wilmington transition, and no analog programming will be available in the
Wilmington market after that date. Instead of programming, the Stations will provide DTV consumer
education information via their analog transmitters, for at least the remainder of the month of September.
The Wilmington Stations are thus going to continue reaching over-the-air analog viewers throughout their
market, and providing valuable, targeted, education and information about the transition to the very
consumers who most need it. Given the Stations’ extraordinary pre-transition consumer education
efforts,13 their commitment to providing consumer education through at least the end of the third quarter
via their analog signal, and the market-wide transition to digital on September 8 in Wilmington, we find
that the public interest will be served by granting the Stations’ waiver requests. We therefore waive the
DTV transition consumer education requirements set forth in Section 73.674 of our Rules for each of the
Stations, effective September 8, 2008.
(Continued from previous page)
“At 12 noon on September 8, 2008, commercial television stations in Wilmington, North Carolina began to
broadcast programming exclusively in a digital format.
If you are viewing this message, this television set has not yet been upgraded to digital.
To receive your television signals, upgrade to digital now with a converter box, a new TV set with a digital
(ATSC) tuner or by subscribing to a pay service like cable or satellite.
For more information call:1-877-DTV-0908 or TTY:1-866-644-0908 or visit www.DTVWilmington.com.”
11 47 C.F.R. § 73.674.
12 47 C.F.R. § 73.674(b)(3).
13 We note that the Stations have engaged in extensive and wide-ranging consumer education efforts stretching far
beyond the requirements of our Rules. These range from: participation in community festivals, like the Cape Fear
Blues Festival and the Battleship Blast Independence Day celebration; direct consumer assistance at events like the
Carolina Beach Fest and DTV Expo; daily news stories and “countdown clocks”; working with religious
organizations to train volunteers for in-home converter box installation assistance; and working with Wilmington
Latino media to support efforts to inform the Hispanic community; to WECT’s provision of live DTV information
and assistance, 24 hours a day, through a telephone hotline. WECT Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008); WWAY Letter
(filed Sept. 11, 2008); WSFX Letter (filed Sept. 10, 2008).
Federal Communications Commission DA 08-2000
4
7. As noted above, two of the Stations sought a waiver of the requirement to file Form 388,
the DTV Transition Education Report, for the periods of time in which they have no educational
obligation. We find that no interest is served by requiring the Stations to file reports addressing expired
obligations, and therefore waive the requirement for any of the Stations to complete and file Form 388 as
it applies to periods after the conclusion of their mandatory education efforts. We note that these stations
may file Form 388 for the fourth quarter and beyond to reflect voluntary consumer education outreach,
particularly if they continue to provide educational information via their analog signal. However, we will
waive the requirements of Section 73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of our Rules effective October 11, 2008, and not
require them to file Form 388 for periods after the third quarter of 2008.
III. CONCLUSION
8. The unique circumstances surrounding the early DTV transition of the Wilmington, NC
market places WSFX-TV, WECT-TV, and WWAY-TV in a position wholly unlike that of any other
station in the country. Therefore, we grant the Stations’ STA requests to terminate analog service no
earlier than September 30, 2008. The Stations first discussed these terminations with the Commission in
April of 2008, and since they were announced publicly on May 8, 2008, the Stations have provided
regular detailed notices to viewers explaining the early termination and the actions those viewers must
take to continue viewing the Stations’ signals. As noted, this education will continue by the broadcast of
notices on the analog service through the termination of the analog signal. Therefore, we find the Stations
in compliance with the analog termination viewer notification requirements established in the Third
Periodic. Finally, we grant each of the Stations a waiver of the consumer education requirements in
Section 73.674 of our Rules, and of the consumer education reporting requirements in Section
73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of our Rules, to the extent that they require consumer education after September 30,
2008, and reporting on consumer education efforts that take place after the third quarter of 2008.
IV. ORDERING CLAUSES
9. IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to the authority contained in Sections 1, 4, and 303 of the
Communications Act of 1934, as amended, 47 U.S.C. §§ 151, 154, 303, and Sections 1.3 and 73.1635 of
the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 1.3 and 73.1635, this Report and Order IS ADOPTED and a
limited waiver of Sections 73.674 and 73.3526(e)(11)(iv) of the Commission’s Rules, 47 C.F.R. §§
73.674 and 73.3526(e)(11)(iv), IS GRANTED to the licensees of WSFX-TV, WSFX-DT, WECT-TV,
WECT-DT, WWAY-TV, and WWAY-DT for the operation of those stations.
10. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the request of Southeastern Media Holdings, Inc. to
terminate all analog operations on WSFX-TV not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No.
20080905AAK) IS GRANTED; that the request of WECT License Subsidiary, LLC to terminate all
analog operations on WECT-TV not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No. 20080905AAJ) IS
GRANTED; and that the request of WWAY-TV, LLC to terminate all analog operations on WWAY-TV
not earlier than September 30, 2008 (File No. 20080903AAH) IS GRANTED.
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Monica Shah Desai
Chief, Media Bureau

Wouldn't it be nice if all the stations that are already on their final digital channel (not flash-cutting or moving) that are planning to shutdown their analog stations on Feb. 17 used those analog stations for the last two weeks just for DTV consumer information and if necessary emergency broadcasts.

Stations can, but most will not and it has to do with competitive edge. It would take all the stations in a market to agree to do it before any station in a market would do it. And for those stations that are going back to their analog channels, it makes it very hard for them to do that kind of things.

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=LD1166712.html

Actually, it's 1.6 watts, actual output 1 watt, half of their "broadcast area" is over water, and the signal is blocked to the west by hills!

Output power is 0.1 watts (100 milliwatts). Apparently they intend to just run their exciter into the antenna.

http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1166712.pdf

Also, there's no blockage to the west. The transmitter is located on Mt. San Bruno along with KNTV-DT (at 100 kW on channel 12). That's just the directional antenna pattern. For comparison, here's KNTV-DT's pattern:

http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1087047.html

Channel 24 is currently occupied by KGO-DT at 561 kW ERP. KGO-DT will be moving back to channel 7 at 24 kW.

Ron

The Wilmington DMA is now only 6 counties in the extreme southeastern corner of NC and WECT-DT is centered for those 6 counties. People who live outside of the Wilmington DMA are covered by other stations now that didn't exist when WECT TV built their analog tower. It is a case of WECT adjusting their digital signal to match the market and people in the other DMA's are loosing out.

Viewers outside a station's DMA don't even "count" in a station's viewership for purposes of setting advertising rates, do they? If that's the case, then it would make no economic sense for WECT to locate and size its digital transmitter to continue to serve those out-of-DMA viewers. If there were no digital transition, but WECT had needed to relocate its analog transmitter for some reason, they would presumably aim similarly to serve its in-DMA viewers at the expense of the out-of-DMA ones.

So the digital transition is simply the proximate cause, not the fundamental reason why many out-of-DMA viewers have lost access to WECT.

So the digital transition is simply the proximate cause, not the fundamental reason why many out-of-DMA viewers have lost access to WECT.

Regarding WECT that is true, however the fact remains that an entire county and parts of several other counties lost OTA reception of any NBC affiliate.

Hopefully WMBF-DT will seek a new channel (20?) and relocate their transmitter over to the Dillon towers, which would resolve that problem.

- Trip

A supposed condition for holding a broadcast license is that your station will be operated in the 'public interest'. So does this mean constituents of the public end at a DMA geographical boundary?

--- CHAS

According to the FCC website, WECT-DT still has a special temporary authority for 98 kW on channel 44, which is set to expire in November. From their application:

"WECT-DT has filed an application for a permit to construct its final digital facility at a site that is different from the site it is currently using for its licensed digital operation. ... Much of the limited space in the transmitter building at the proposed site is currently occupied by analog equipment used by two collocated stations. Because of the space constraint, it will not be possible to construct the full 710 kW effective radiated power ('ERP') WECT-DT facility proposed in the application until the analog equipment is removed from the transmitter building. Accordingly, WECT-DT proposes in this application to construct an interim facility, operating at 98 kW ERP, for operation until the collocated analog equipment is removed. Immediately after this equipment is removed, the applicant intends to construct the full 710 kW ERP facility, assuming that it receives authority from the FCC to do so."

Source: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/prefill_and_display.pl?Application_id=1245041&Service=DS&Form_id=911&Facility_id=48666

(The above was quoted from WECT's "comprehensive technical exhibit.")

So hopefully this won't be forever for them.

A boost from 98 kW to 710 kW will not overcome a transmitter moving 34 miles. Furthermore, I've read their analog tower is one of the tallest structures in North Carolina or something like this, so they're losing height too.

- Trip

I think the Wilmington stations should relocate their transmitters further north and west along the Bladen/Pender county lines, that would eliminate a LOT of waste over the ocean, and still provide grade A service to Wilmington. The location they are in right now is no doubt not the best solution, no more than WECT's analog site was. I doubt this will happen however, because WWAy just built the current tower in Winnabow when they signed on with digital a few years ago.

A supposed condition for holding a broadcast license is that your station will be operated in the 'public interest'. So does this mean constituents of the public end at a DMA geographical boundary?

--- CHAS

You're still missing an important aspect of all this. WECT's analog signal was difficult to receive in Wilmington.

I worked Master Control at WECT several years ago, and we couldn't even get a perfectly clean signal on the air monitors in the control room.

Neither could the cable system.

Rabbit ears inside a house? Forget it.

The analog tower's location would not have worked with DTV UHF. Period. Even though yes, that is one tall tower.

Viewers outside a station's DMA don't even "count" in a station's viewership for purposes of setting advertising rates, do they?

Economically, yes, that is true. Outside of the DMA, any station is considered a secondary station. In some cases the secondary station does as well as the primary. With southeastern NC, which is today in 3 different DMA's (Raleigh, Greenville/Washington/New Bern and Wilmington), WECT-TV is centrally located between all three because in the 50's and 60's when WECT was built, there were NO TV stations to be received in southeastern NC. It was a different time. For the Wilmington DMA, the DMA that WECT is in, WECT-TV doesn't cover it well. WECT-DT does and that is problem. In the case of WECT, in Fayetteville, which is in the Raleigh DMA and 90 miles NW of Wilmington and 40 miles NW of WECT-TV's 2000 ft tower, WECT has been the secondary for years but because NBC has always been a UHF station for Raleigh (being 60 miles N of Fayetteville), first on channel 28, and then when NBC bought channel 17 as an O & O and still not making it work. None of those UHF stations ever had or do have as strong a signal into Fayetteville as VHF's WTVD and WRAL. WECT had a better signal than either channel 28 or channel 17 into Fayetteville and so had the audience for NBC. But now a days on sat and cable, channel 17 has grown to be the dominant NBC in the area for those who are not OTA, but for OTA WECT is still the NBC station because WNCN channel 17 has such a bad signal in the southern part of the Raleigh DMA that WECT-TV is the strongest in and those are the people complaining. Remember, WECT-TV almost gets a signal to Raleigh, 90 miles from its tower, WNCN, the NBC out of Raleigh, who also is on a 2000 ft tower barely reaches Fayetteville, 60 miles away and Raleigh to Wilmington is almost 140 miles away. WECT-TV's tower is located at the far corner of the Wilmington DMA at White Lake as the WECT-TV coverage map shows and the WECT-DT coverage map showing the signal more over the entire Wilmington market.

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/TV32560.gif
WECT-TV coverage

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DT1235792.gif
WECT-DT coverage

So the digital transition is simply the proximate cause, not the fundamental reason why many out-of-DMA viewers have lost access to WECT.

One of the main reasons, yes.

And that DT coverage map of WECT that foxeng posted, is when they turn the power up to 710kW. Right now take off about 30 miles of coverage on that map, because they are only at 98kW. So there is still a chance for much better penetration in the next few weeks when they get the power turned up.

30 miles? I disagree with that number. I'm 79 miles out and received WSLS-DT at 55.46 kW with just as much signal strength as I do now with 950 kW with my roof antenna. All the extra power does after a certain point is make the signal easier to receive over short distances, in my experience.

The difference between 98 kW and 710 kW is a little less than 9 dB. It'll make a difference, no doubt, but not a 30-mile one. (Besides, WSFX-DT is coming off the same antenna at 80 kW with no plans to boost power, so if people want all the Wilmington stations, they should already be able to see WECT-DT if they see WSFX-DT)

- Trip

And that DT coverage map of WECT that foxeng posted, is when they turn the power up to 710kW. Right now take off about 30 miles of coverage on that map, because they are only at 98kW. So there is still a chance for much better penetration in the next few weeks when they get the power turned up.

The FCC contour for the STA appears to be understated. It is at the same height/pattern as the 710kW CP. I would expect a service area increase of about 10 miles, with increased power or that the STA is understated by about 20. Do STA's have different contour calculations?

http://www.fcc.gov/ftp/Bureaus/MB/Databases/fm_tv_service_areas/maps/DS1245041.gif

For some reason, the FCC doesn't factor in HAAT in its STA maps. I think they use the same calculation that they use for LPTV stations to calculate STAs.

Here's a pair of more accurate maps, give them time to load:

98 kW STA:
http://recnet.com/cdbs/goo_curves.php?data=34.131|78.188|98|590|DT|86404|44|0|4

710 kW CP:
http://recnet.com/cdbs/goo_curves.php?data=34.131|78.188|710|590|DT|86399|44|0|3

You'll need to zoom the 98 kW STA one out one level to get to the same zoom level, then you'll see the actual difference in the predicted coverage contour.

- Trip

30 miles? I disagree with that number. I'm 79 miles out and received WSLS-DT at 55.46 kW with just as much signal strength as I do now with 950 kW with my roof antenna. All the extra power does after a certain point is make the signal easier to receive over short distances, in my experience.

The difference between 98 kW and 710 kW is a little less than 9 dB. It'll make a difference, no doubt, but not a 30-mile one. (Besides, WSFX-DT is coming off the same antenna at 80 kW with no plans to boost power, so if people want all the Wilmington stations, they should already be able to see WECT-DT if they see WSFX-DT)

- Trip

I receive WSFX at only about 50% along with WECT but I get WWAY at 92%, so I expect a much higher reading when WECT turns up the power, and I do believe people out in the border counties will see a signal then where they don't now. 30 miles might be a bit much possibly...

For some reason, the FCC doesn't factor in HAAT in its STA maps.

Actually they do. As long as the total coverage area is less than the authorized full power coverage, they usually authorize it after looking at the supporting documentation and a coverage map IS required for supporting documentation.

In WECT-DT's case, look at the contour at the northern end for the town of Clinton. In the STA, Clinton is right at the line and on the full power, the contour is well past Clinton. It looks like WECT-DT is using the full power antenna with reduced power, more than likely from a low power transmitter while a high power transmitter is being installed?

No, I mean the FCC generated coverage maps. Look at any STA map for an upcoming "phased transition" station, you'll see it's a great deal smaller despite identical height and power. Example, WSET:

1864' 200 kW LIC:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1080821.html

1864' 200 kW STA:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1262232.html

The FCC's second map is woefully incorrect, and I think it's because they're not counting HAAT when they generate their maps, I think they're treating STAs like LPs.

- Trip

No, I mean the FCC generated coverage maps. Look at any STA map for an upcoming "phased transition" station, you'll see it's a great deal smaller despite identical height and power. Example, WSET:

1864' 200 kW LIC:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1080821.html

1864' 200 kW STA:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1262232.html

The FCC's second map is woefully incorrect, and I think it's because they're not counting HAAT when they generate their maps, I think they're treating STAs like LPs.

- Trip

My station had a STA and the on line map was accurate. They do take into account HAAT.

That FCC map is just wrong. I don't know why, but it is. WECT is using the top mounted bat wing antenna that WWAY and WSFX are using as well, they just have to install the high powered transmitter to it when they get the WSFX analog stuff out. That is according to what I have seen in the FCC apps. and what was posted in the Wilmington topic here. I'm sure they will make an announcement on the newscasts and web-site when they have turned up the power.

http://bigswitchquestions.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/welcome-to-the-big-switch-s/#comment-29

Well every recent STA map I've seen is very inaccurate and looks like an LP coverage map. It looks like they used HAAT a while back, but they don't now. The maps I linked are for identical facilities, and yet they show different coverage areas. In fact, according to the FCC, WSET's 17.9 kW STA from more than three years ago has a larger coverage area than the 200 kW STA they'll be running next year from the same antenna. See here:

17.9 kW STA:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS676963.html

200 kW LIC:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1080821.html

200 kW STA for after 02/17/09, until DT-13 is finished:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1262232.html

Something doesn't work out here.

- Trip

In WECT-DT's case, look at the contour at the northern end for the town of Clinton. In the STA, Clinton is right at the line and on the full power, the contour is well past Clinton.

The town on the line in the STA is Atkinson, not Clinton. Atkinson isn't on the full-power map, but it's west of Burgaw which is on that map, and north of the transmitter. The full-power radius is more than double the STA radius.

(Irrelevant aside: when I moved down here from upstate New York, my furniture and other belongings almost went to Clinton NC! :eek: When I visited the moving company to arrange for the move, they put down NC instead of SC on the order form and started to calculate the rate accordingly, before I caught it.)

Here's another, more relevant example. WSFX-DT:

1935' 80 kW DA STA
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DS1135086.html

1935' 80 kW DA LIC
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1227915.html

Two identical facilities, two different maps.

- Trip

The town on the line in the STA is Atkinson, not Clinton. Atkinson isn't on the full-power map, but it's west of Burgaw which is on that map, and north of the transmitter. The full-power radius is more than double the STA radius.

My bad, you are correct. That makes it EVEN more worse. The difference between 98kw vs 710 kw off the same antenna is almost 10 db. That is quite a difference of RF level.

:confused:

My bad, you are correct. That makes it EVEN more worse. The difference between 98kw vs 710 kw off the same antenna is almost 10 db. That is quite a difference of RF level.

10 db will make a huge difference in poor signal areas within the radio horizon. What's the db difference for the 'digital cliff'? I don't really know for 8VSB but I'm thinking it's 1 to 2 db.

If we were considering free space, 6db power increase doubles the range all else being equal.

--- CHAS

10 db will make a huge difference in poor signal areas within the radio horizon. What's the db difference for the 'digital cliff'? I don't really know for 8VSB but I'm thinking it's 1 to 2 db.

FCC Grade B limit is 41 dBu for UHF. SNR is -27 db. A station can have signal but if the SNR is shot, you will not decode no matter what the signal level is.

If we were considering free space, 6db power increase doubles the range all else being equal.

--- CHAS

One S unit receive is 6db. 6 db power increase quadtruples (power doubles every 3 db) and 6 db loss drops the signal down to a quarter.

That's correct, 6 db is a factor of 4. Quadrupling the power doubles the range in free space. It's because the unit area of sphere (4*pi*sqr(R)) illuminated by the antenna at the center increases by a factor of 4 when its radius is doubled. So the power density at R with 1 watt radiated is equal to the power density at 2*R with 4 watts.

The receiver noise power has a lot to do with the receiver design and there are some natural factors such as noise proportional to receiver bandwidth we must accept that must be mitigated. Of course, the noise figure/power gain of what's connected closest to the antenna terminal plays a major factor in that analysis. But regardless of receiver noise, a transmitter power density change of xxdb for a linear system will result in a xxdb increase in SNR.

So, if I moved a receiver out until it doesn't lock and then increased the transmit power by 4X (6db) I can then move that receiver to double the distance before it looses lock again. A receiver of better design would exhibit the same characteristics but the distances for loss of lock would be greater.

And certainly, a receiver just shy of the 'digital cliff' might very well perform perfectly if the transmitter power were doubled (3db) resulting in a 3db increase in SNR.

Hope this hasn't stretched the theme of the tread too much but there has been discussion of these issues.

--- CHAS

I have concerns where I live if the reception will improve after the transition. I ran TV fool for current analog and post transition digital and there is a big difference in some as to current dBm and post dBm. For example WTTG is currently -98.3dBm and post will be -128 dBm WMAR currently -100.4 and post -128.3, WJZ and WBAL don't even show in post transition. I receive most of the analogs fine, some are fuzzy but watchable. Do you think once the transition is complete they will up power any once they find there coverage wasn't what is was in analog.

My guess is that once WPMT sets up a translator there, you'll have a full compliment of networks, but maybe not the ones you want. It looks like you'll have full service from:

21-1 CBS WHP
25-1 NBC WHAG
27-1 ABC WHTM
31-1 PBS WWPB
33-1 PBS WITF
50-1 CW W51CY
60-1 ION WWPX
68-1 IND WJAL

Plus the West Virginia PBS and the WPMT translator. Anything beyond that looks like a tough catch, though the mountains may help you out too. What do you receive now?

- Trip

It looks like you'll have full service from:

21-1 CBS WHP

- Trip

WHP-DT looks pretty difficult. Even if they go to 450 kW post transition, the signal level will be -111.1 + 8.7 = 102.4 dBm. With a 2.2 dB noise figure preamp, the required antenna gain is 13.2 dBi to just start decoding.

Ron

WHP-DT looks pretty difficult. Even if they go to 450 kW post transition, the signal level will be -111.1 + 8.7 = 102.4 dBm. With a 2.2 dB noise figure preamp, the required antenna gain is 13.2 dBi to just start decoding.

Ron

I've had good luck with stations down to that figure. Actually, I'd be much more concerned about co-channel interference from WVPY-DT 21 than anything else...

- Trip

For example WTTG is currently -98.3dBm and post will be -128 dBm WMAR currently -100.4 and post -128.3, WJZ and WBAL don't even show in post transition.
Do you get WTTG-DT Fox 5 with a digital tuner? WTTG-DT is on UHF 36 at 1000 kW and will stay there after the transition. If you can get it now with a deep fringe UHF antenna at the highest height you can put reasonably place it, you should be ok for WTTG-DT & other high power UHF stations in DC post-transition. The difference you see at your location for WTTG is the difference for long range propagation between low VHF 5 and UHF 36.

WBAL-DT 11 has not filed for increased power with a post-transition allotment of only 5 kW ERP on VHF 11 so they can use their current VHF 11 antenna and I expect will be the high profile problem station after February 17 in the DC and Baltimore markets. WJZ-DT 13 in Baltimore will be putting up a new directional antenna with a 28.8 kW ERP on VHF 13. The problem is that both WJZ-DT and WBAL-DT in Baltimore will be putting less power in your direction because of adjacent channel interference concerns with WWPX-DT Ion 60 on VHF 12 in Martinsburg, WV. A number of OTA analog viewers on the western fringe of WBAL and WJZ are likely to lose those 2 stations after the transition.

COMMISSIONER MCDOWELL TO VISIT BOISE, IDAHO, AND FOUR MONTANA CITIES, AS PART OF EXTENSIVE NATIONWIDE INITIATIVE FOR DTV OUTREACH. News Release. News Media Contact: Brigid Calamis at (202) 418-2205, email: Brigid.Calamis@fcc.gov CMMR. Contact (202) 418-0530, TTY: (202) 418-0432 DOC-285681A1.doc DOC-285681A1.pdf DOC-285681A1.txt

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), WITTENBERG, WISCONSIN. Changed Station WFXS(TV)s DTV Channel from 50 to 31. Terminated the proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11468, 08-136). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Mass Media. Adopted: 09/22/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2160). MB DA-08-2160A1.doc DA-08-2160A1.pdf DA-08-2160A1.txt

CARRIAGE OF DIGITAL TELEVISION BROADCAST SIGNALS: AMENDMENT TO PART 76 OF THE COMMISSION'S RULES. The Commission clarified the application of certain rules regarding cable carriage of digital signals. (Dkt No. 98-120). Action by: the Commission. Adopted: 09/24/2008 by Declaratory Ruling. (FCC No. 08-224). MB FCC-08-224A1.doc FCC-08-224A1.pdf FCC-08-224A1.txt

WHP-DT looks pretty difficult. Even if they go to 450 kW post transition, the signal level will be -111.1 + 8.7 = 102.4 dBm. With a 2.2 dB noise figure preamp, the required antenna gain is 13.2 dBi to just start decoding.

Ron


I've had good luck with stations down to that figure.


Assuming Ron is reffering to TVfool predictions, note This issue has been brought up in TVfool thread by myself and others on occasion :

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=10643984&postcount=59

I think the "short answer" is, tvfool uses F(99,99) curves, and I think it's predictions can often be "overly conservative" vs. reality by about -10~-20dB or so ....

In any case, there has been much discussion of this issue (including input from TVfool's developer) in the past on TVfool thread in Hardware(oops, "HDTV Technical" area), and Note Andy had even considered at one point adjusting/shifting the values by +10db or so, but decided not to do so :

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12266426&postcount=122
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=12248167&postcount=121

My guess is that once WPMT sets up a translator there, you'll have a full compliment of networks, but maybe not the ones you want. It looks like you'll have full service from:

21-1 CBS WHP
25-1 NBC WHAG
27-1 ABC WHTM
31-1 PBS WWPB
33-1 PBS WITF
50-1 CW W51CY
60-1 ION WWPX
68-1 IND WJAL

Plus the West Virginia PBS and the WPMT translator. Anything beyond that looks like a tough catch, though the mountains may help you out too. What do you receive now?

- Trip

I get most of the analogs pretty good, some are snowy WRC-4 and WTTG-5 are the worst, as for digital I can get WTTG, WUSA, WDCA most of the time, WHTM mainly after sunset and WITF is hit and miss, funny thing is when I can get WITF I can get WNEP and WVIA from the Scranton area.

I think the "short answer" is, tvfool uses F(99,99) curves, and I think it's predictions can often be "overly conservative" vs. reality by about -10~-20dB or so ....

Thanks for the heads up. 10 to 20 dB is a pretty big "fudge factor". I'll have to do a little research on this.

Ron

Ron,

Also, note at TVFool site's "Signal Analysis FAQ" (http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=50), it says this, which I believe is a good "rough" explanation/guide for use of TVfool's signal strength predictions, but of course is not really possible for the -110dBm/Rooftop antenna example given unless we use receive antenna with about 30 dB gain (assuming no external amp and receiver-front end with about 8db NF and 4dB loss in feedline ) ....


There are a lot of factors that affect each situation differently, but in VERY ROUGH TERMS, signals above about -70 dBm should be strong enough to receive with an indoor antenna, signals above about -90 dBm should be strong enough to receive with an attic antenna, and signals above about -110 dBm should be strong enough to receive with a rooftop antenna. These are only estimates and your particular situation may be significantly better or worse than indicated. Your mileage may vary.


Typically, with use of some of the commonly used preamps/antennas (10~15db gain) used, I do know I've seen many reports on local threads reporting sucessful/continuous reception given Tvfool predictions of ~-110~115dBm, and a few reports of "just at" or often just below/often just above threshold with same sort of receive antenna setup with TVfool predictions around -115dBm when the receive site is reported to involve seemingly relatively few nearby obstructions/attenuation factors not modelled by TV fool (such as trees or nearby buildings), but I don't think I've ran across any sucessful stories of DTV Reception given TVfool prediction less than about -115dBm(other than Tropo/Eskip) .. And, that all seems to coincide with my experience as well ...

... And, Of course, For ATSC M/H streams, from what I've read S/N required for threshold DTV reception might drop as low as to about 4dB SNR ...... Which I think might be quite "interesting" (including regarding the subject/matters of interest of this thread) regarding any fixed reception/decoding of M/H streams with outdoor, directional receive antennas vs. reception on portable/mobile handheld devices with internal or small "whip" antennas .....

Typically, with use of some of the commonly used preamps/antennas (10~15db gain) used, I do know I've seen many reports on local threads reporting sucessful/continuous reception given Tvfool predictions of ~-110~115dBm, and a few reports of "just at" or often just below/often just above threshold with same sort of receive antenna setup with TVfool predictions around -115dBm when the receive site is reported to involve seemingly relatively few nearby obstructions/attenuation factors not modelled by TV fool (such as trees or nearby buildings), but I don't think I've ran across any sucessful stories of DTV Reception given TVfool prediction less than about -115dBm(other than Tropo/Eskip) .. And, that all seems to coincide with my experience as well ...
.
That's interesting considering the threshold for the proposed white space devices to determine if a channel is unused is
-114dBm.

That's interesting considering the threshold for the proposed white space devices to determine if a channel is unused is
-114dBm.

Thought I made it clear I was talking about TVfool predictions. The TVfool predictions are inaccurate. You would need a receive system NF of about 1.2db(typical NF of receivers are about 6~8db, preamps, 2~5db) and a antenna with 24dB gain to decode ATSC DTV signal at -114dBm in free space ....

In the real/practical world, on UHF using the best of broadband UHF antenna/very low noise preamp, decoding a DTV signal at about -105dBm or so would be about at the limit of possibility .... Note : as I mentioned in earlier post, the upcoming ATSC M/H standard will have a significantly lower S/N reqired for threshold reception -- possibly as much as about 11db less, in which case, I think then the decoding of ATSC M/H streams with a -114dBm signal present becomes possible with use of hi-gain antenna/low noise preamp ..


Of course, as I recall reading has been demonstrated in tests regarding the unlicensed white space devices, a device using a low gain antenna (placed who knows where, including indoors in a home, or in a car/etc) is often not going to be able to detect a -114dBm or even significantly stronger signal present at a outdoor receive antenna location which may be 30 feet or higher above ground ..... Not to mention the WSD may be in a location that is terrain shielded(but could be LOS to nearby TV receive antennas) from Broadcast TV signals, whereas the TV receive antenna(s) may not be ..

The required sensitivity for the NTIA DTV converter boxes is to be as specified in 'ATSC Recommended Practice A/74: Receiver Performance Guidelines'

4.1
Sensitivity
A DTV receiver should achieve a bit error rate in the transport stream of no worse than 3x10-6 (i.e., the FCC Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS) Threshold of Visibility (TOV)) for input RF signal levels directly to the tuner from –83 dBm to –8 dBm for both the VHF and UHF bands. This relationship applies to a single DTV signal with no noise and no multipath interference. This is an overall receiver guideline and is meant to include all receiver circuit effects, including any phase noise that is contributed by the tuner in that particular receiver. It is desirable to expand the dynamic range beyond these bounds when possible.

That's what a lot of viewers will be using so I think this to be a reasonable guideline for determining where reception is possible.

--- CHAS

I think the "short answer" is, tvfool uses F(99,99) curves, and I think it's predictions can often be "overly conservative" vs. reality by about -10~-20dB or so ....

-104 db were the absolute floor for reception, I'd have just one channel!

That's what a lot of viewers will be using so I think this to be a reasonable guideline for determining where reception is possible.


Yes, however, Viewers in hopefully most cases will be using antennas which provide gain to the signal strength in free space which are the numbers we are reffering to regarding the TVfool predictions, and minimum signal level required for decoding DTV, as antenna gain/feedline loss/system noise figure is variable --- Whearas Thermal Noise floor, C/N ratio needed to decode DTV isn't variable ....

The receiver sensitivity requirements for the CECB's you posted are for signal level at receiver input(min to max), and is right in line with the performance of receivers available to consumers which FCC tested in 2005 , as well as FCC planning factors for DTV reception as shown in OET bulletin #69, as well as the info Ron and I have been discussing ....

Thermal Noise floor = - 106.2Db

SNR required for decoding ATSC DTV = 15dB

-106.2dB - 15dB = - 91.2 dB

Receiver Noise figure = ~7dB

-91.2dB - 7dB = -83.2dB ...

On UHF, add roughly about 15dB antenna gain(say a XG91 or CM4228), and a 3dB mast mount preamp :

-83.2db - 4Db(difference between System NF w/o and with preamp) + 15dB (antenna Gain) = - 102.2dBm Signal can be decoded ....

FCC Planning factors for DTV reception(and for defining a stations service area Contour and involving interference protection rules, and involving evaluation of coverage using Longely-rice modelling per FCC "approved" method) also involve Receive antenna gain+feedline loss (not external amps) ....

Some of the FCC planning factors for DTV involves directional receive antenna 30FT above ground and The following :

Required Carrier to Noise Ratio : 15dB

Thermal Noise Floor : -106.2 dB

-----------------------------------------

For Low VHF :

4dbd Gain Receive antenna

10Db F/B ratio for receive antenna

1dB download Line loss (about 100FT RG6)

System Noise figure = 10Db

with F(50,90) curves, these factors involve FCC defined LowVHF service Contour = 28dBu

For Hi-VHF :

6dBd Gain Receive Antenna

2db Download Line Loss (about 100ft RG6)

12Db F/B ratio for receive antenna

10dB System Noise figure

with F(50,90) curves, these factors involve FCC defined Hi-VHF service Contour = 36dBu

For UHF :

10dBd Gain Receive Antenna

14Db F/B ratio for receive antenna

4dB Download Line Loss (about 100ft RG6)

7dB System Noise figure

with F(50,90) curves, these factors involve FCC defined UHF service Contour = 41dBu (More specifically it's = 41dBu - 20 log[615/(channel mid-frequency in MHz)]


----------------

More details can be found in FCC OET Bullitin #69 :

http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Documents/bulletins/oet69/oet69.pdf

...

Thermal Noise floor = - 106.2Db

SNR required for decoding ATSC DTV = 15dB

-106.2dB - 15dB = - 91.2 dB

Receiver Noise figure = ~7dB

-91.2dB - 7dB = -83.2dB ...

On UHF, add roughly about 15dB antenna gain(say a XG91 or CM4228), and a 3dB mast mount preamp :

-83.2db - 4Db(difference between System NF w/o and with preamp) + 15dB (antenna Gain) = - 102.2dBm Signal can be decoded ....


With reference to your UHF example, these calculations suggest extraordinary efforts will be required for fringe viewers to receive a DTV picture confirming what is somewhat obvious to us intuitively. I suspect most fringe viewers (like myself) are watching substandard analog TV now.

In the terrestrial environment we need to account for some additional fade margin. For example, I occasionally watch DTV from Baltimore while I'm across the Chesapeake Bay at Rock Hall Md. I can visually see the tower at Baltimore with TVFool confirming direct line of sight at ground level for UHF reception using my 'Silver Sensor' antenna. It usually works well as predicted but there are periods where the signal slowly fades and lock is lost.

I'm not sure what causes this but suspect it has something to do with thermal layering of air and refraction at the layer boundaries.

I'm not sure what Baltimore stations have arrived at final configuration so I'll wait until next spring to investigate.

--- CHAS

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), COLUMBUS, GEORGIA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 11 for DTV Channel 9 for Station WTVM-DT. Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-1503). MB DA-08-1503A1.doc DA-08-1503A1.pdf DA-08-1503A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 31 for DTV Channel 51 for Station WFXG-DT. (Dkt No. 08-103, RM-11441). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2161). MB DA-08-2161A1.doc DA-08-2161A1.pdf DA-08-2161A1.txt

Other FCC filings of note today:

KVIH filed a petition for reconsideration of the dismissal of their request to return to channel 12. They now want 5 kW instead of 1.5 kW.

WFUP's petition to retain channel 45 has finally shown up. WFQX's petition is still missing, but the application for WFUP does reference it enough to give a good idea of what's going on.

WCOV is trying like hell to get channel 20. They've filed yet another amendment, this time dropping power to 640 kW from the previous 775 kW or so, which had previously been 1000 kW. They also indicate they'll be amending it again when they sign an interference agreement with WMPV-DT in Mobile.

- Trip

TV Fool projections vs Actual Reception

I've found the TV Fool predictions to be fairly accurate, but I can receive some stations showing a lower signal level than some showing a higher level. Here are my TV Fool Projections vs Actual Reception using a CM 4228 without a preamp 35 feet above ground on a Sony XBR4 receiver. SNR of 15 db produces a picture. Sutro Tower is 3/4 mile away (reason for no preamp). 13 stations with strong predicted signals (-17.9 to -57.9 db) and received 100% of the time are not listed.

Xmtr ch - TV Fool Sig. - Distance - Received?
------------------------------------------------------------
63 64.9 30 LOS 75% of the time
27 65.2 5 1edge 100%-Very strong signal
(Wonder why this is shown to be so low???)
62 78.7 30 LOS 75% of the time
50 80.5 36 1edge 60% of the time
52 80.6 36 1edge 99%-Occasional break up
51 83.6 35 1edge 90%
48 86.7 35 1edge 85%
47 101.6 28 1edge 100%-Strong signal
25 108.3 65 1edge 0%-Have never received it
21 109.5 65 1edge 98%-Almost always there
35 112.0 65 1edge 0%-Have never received it
61 114.1 65 1edge 50%
46 116.3 65 1edge 1%-Have received it one time
40 116.9 65 1edge 70%
23 119.7 42 1edge 5%-Rarely seen
53 120.0 65 1edge 50%

All other stations listed by TV Fool having weaker signals have never been received.

I find the predictions vs results in the -86 to -112 range to be interesting.

A signal of -120 db (predicted) is the weakest signal to be received here.

Larry
SF

TV Fool projections vs Actual Reception
I've found the TV Fool predictions to be fairly accurate,


Regarding TVfool predictions and my earlier comment in response to Samner -- I suppose I should clarify in case there are some who misunderstood :

What I meant was the TVfool "numbers" (dBM) prediction often aren't accurate, and are often going to be lower (by as much as 10~20db) than the actual "real world" signal strength(in free space) ....

That's not necessarily a bad thing, as there are good reasons to go with conservative predictions/use F(99,99). Some of those reasons may even be demonstrated somewhat by your report of how "often" you receive the weakest stations, and also involving Hipar's "Fade Margin" comment, and also because of attenuation factors(such as nearby trees/buildings) present at many receive locations which aren't modelled by TVfool ..... For more info+detail, please see the discussion and andy's(TVfool developer) comments on this issue in TVfool thread, some of the posts involved which I posted link to in earlier post ...

The point of this is, If you are calculating the weakest signal(in reality) you'll potentially be able to decode with your particular receive antenna setup(which is something we can do with DTV with a fair degree of precision) -- If you're going to try/want to make use of the TVfool predicted "numbers"(in dBm) .... It's useful to know+understand a bit of how the TVfool predictions work+that there are cases where the numbers(in dBm) predicted will often be lower/indicate a weaker signal than is actually present in reality ---

For example, again, It would be impossible to decode a current ATSC/8VSB DTV signal that is *actually*, in the real world, about -106dBm or so or weaker in free space with use of a CM4228 and a preamp(for system NF) with 0.5 db NF, if you can find such a beast ...

Regarding TVfool predictions and my earlier comment in response to Samner -- I suppose I should clarify in case there are some who misunderstood :

What I meant was the TVfool "numbers" (dBM) prediction often aren't accurate, and are often going to be lower (by as much as 10~20db) than the actual "real world" signal strength(in free space) ....

Also, in further fairness to TV Fool, they display signals all the way down to -139.9 db. That gives us all a pretty respectable idea of what stations we'll see on tropo days and such.

For example, again, It would be impossible to decode a current ATSC/8VSB DTV signal that is *actually*, in the real world, about -106dBm or so or weaker in free space with use of a CM4228 and a preamp(for system NF) with 0.5 db NF, if you can find such a beast ...

The real value of the TV Fool db figure is that once you've figured out roughly what signal strength it takes for your conditions, the db figures are relative enough to each other that you can figure roughly where your signal cliff is.

For example, with my current setup (CM 4228 + CM 7777 at 32 feet) I know what TV Fool calls -125 db is where rock solid signal ends for me.

The guide doesn't necessarily have to be perfect. It just has to be consistent and consistently relative to something you can measure and compare regularly as you try to improve your signal.

And thank God it is, because TV Fool is what convinced me to spend the better part of an afternoon raising a mast on the side of my house with that monster rig atop it. I would have been jacked if those db figures had been terrible guesses and I spent all that effort for nothing.

I'd think some of the folks(Including TVfool developer who usually monitors that thread) who participate in the "Official TV Fool Thread" might be interested in hearing about some of the recent comments and reports of how folks are using TVfool and their reception results/etc :

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14622860#post14622860

Overall, that thread really hasn't seen a lot of activity, which has been surprising to me, as you'd think the opposite would be the case, given it's usefullness ...

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), COLUMBUS, GEORGIA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 11 for DTV Channel 9 for Station WTVM-DT. Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-1503). MB DA-08-1503A1.doc DA-08-1503A1.pdf DA-08-1503A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 31 for DTV Channel 51 for Station WFXG-DT. (Dkt No. 08-103, RM-11441). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2161). MB DA-08-2161A1.doc DA-08-2161A1.pdf DA-08-2161A1.txt

There was one that was posted very late and brought to my attention in the Traverse City thread. WFUP was actually granted DT-45, without the normal public notice proceedings and all that.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-08-1858A1.pdf

- Trip

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), OMAHA, NEBRASKA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 38 for DTV Channel 15 for Station KXVO-DT. (Dkt No. RM-11445, 08-115). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-1496). MB DA-08-1496A1.doc DA-08-1496A1.pdf DA-08-1496A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), DANVILLE, KENTUCKY. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 31 for DTV Channel 4 for Station WDKY-DT. (Dkt No. 08-104, RM-11442). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 09/25/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-1499). MB DA-08-1499A1.doc DA-08-1499A1.pdf DA-08-1499A1.txt

Still no movement on KNAZ? Remaining on 22 wouldn't seem to be a problem (it appears to be available on the post-transition channel search). I'm sure they will want to get confirmation soon as winter is right around the corner.

I don't think KNAZ is a huge worry. They can operate under STA on DT-22 for at least 6 months after the transition, so even if it's eventually denied for some unknown reason, they don't have to worry about it just yet.

- Trip

The FCC admits it has only gone through about 50% of all channel change apps so far.

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), DANVILLE, KENTUCKY. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 31 for DTV Channel 4 for Station WDKY-DT.Well, who couldn't have seen that coming? :eek:

The FCC admits it has only gone through about 50% of all channel change apps so far.

Does anyone know if there is any sort of method to the order they are addressing these ? Is it "FIFO", or something else ? I couldn't "figure it out" looking through the info and what FCC has done so far, made easier thank's to Trip's channel change page+the updates here you+trip are posting ..

It's Just my opinion, but I think some of these should have/could have been done during channel elections ...

That being said, Regardless, with winter almost here, and given some of these are probably going to take some time even after they are approved ... and given the comment period(and reply period - Hopefully there won't be opposistion to those which ARE a good idea) involved, Seems safe to say some of them for which it would have been nice if they did, aren't going to happen by analog-shut off ...

Near my area, Such as WDKY for example, With Lexington being UHF only analog market + If WDKY gets to move, only WKYT(13) and WLJC(7)(Religous, already has their analog shut off and is quite a ways from Lexington itself) being on Hi-VHF post transition .... If it does work out for WDKY(I think it looks good so far from the NPRM text) It would have been "nice" if they could get off Lo-VHF before Feb 18 as it pertains to viewers choosing/purchasing new antennas ..... Of course, it would have been even "nicer" if KYT would/could move to UHF as well ...

Similar for WSYX, given Columbus would be all UHF if their move is approved, although in that case analog OTA viewers should already have VHF/UHF antennas ....

It now appears the analogs are off in Wilmington. I tuned to WECT-TV 6 last night and where I usually either see a snowy signal or just a slight sync bar denoting a very weak signal is there, I saw nothing but snow, something I have never seen on channel 6 before.

It now appears the analogs are off in Wilmington. I tuned to WECT-TV 6 last night and where I usually either see a snowy signal or just a slight sync bar denoting a very weak signal is there, I saw nothing but snow, something I have never seen on channel 6 before.

6 and 26 are off.

This story was posted in the HOTP thread: "Bill would allow broadcasters to continue broadcasting in analog for 30 days after Feb. 17, 2009." The Broadcasting and Cable article is at http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6601298.html.

Given that the Senate and House are about to adjourn for the elections, these bills are not likely to pass, although I would assume there will be a lame duck session in November/December to pass continuing resolution bills. I wonder if they have any idea how big a mess this could create? Do they or the staffers who wrote the bill understand that over 500 stations will be doing digital flash cuts that preclude them keeping analog on the air? How about the analog stations that have to go off the air before another station in the area can start up their post-transition digital channel? If this were to pass, would the FCC have the power or the foresight to tell those stations to shut down their analog signal on Feb. 17? I wonder if they even realize that a number of stations already have or will have turned off the analog signal by January.

From what I am hearing, Congress is done with anything dealing with the transition no matter what is brought forth at this late date.

PDF Warning: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=682954

Please examine Pages 5-6. Can someone explain to me how that's legal? The WTNH in New York part of it, I mean.

- Trip

PDF Warning: http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=682954

Please examine Pages 5-6. Can someone explain to me how that's legal? The WTNH in New York part of it, I mean.

- Trip

Very interesting. The FCC has been trying to get larger stations to help smaller minority owned stations get a further reach with multicasting. According to the documentation, WSAH is minority owned by an Asian family that is control by the wife of the family and they propose to increase diverse foreign language programming by increasing the population 3 fold by moving the transmitter to ESB but to maintain the OTA audience they currently have, lease subchannel space on an existing station that covers 100% of the audience lost by the move to ESB. In return, the leasing station gets subchannel access to the New York market. LIN is the winner here getting access to the NYC DMA without having to spend any real money.

By putting this component in place in the WSAH application, this increases the chance of approval of the channel change and site move. My guess is it will be approved as long as it meets the technical specs they are asking for. It meets the criteria of diversity of programming by stations and the added benefit of a larger station helping a smaller owned minority station reach a greater audience, something the FCC has been begging larger stations to do and that will carry a lot of weight.

No, I mean, how can they carry WTNH-DT on WSAH-DT without getting nasty letters from ABC? The current WTNH-DT has no subchannels other than ABC...

- Trip

No, I mean, how can they carry WTNH-DT on WSAH-DT without getting nasty letters from ABC? The current WTNH-DT has no subchannels other than ABC...

- Trip

How do you know they will simulcast WTNH on WSAH? My guess is WTNH will create unique programming for this subchannel to get around the legal issues with ABC.

The issue here isn't network affiliation, but that a full power large station is helping increase reach of a smaller minority owned, minority programmed station, something Chairman Martin and Commissionor Copps has been pushing using full power stations and LPTV's or those groups who can't afford to build a station or no spectrum is available to lease subchannel space to provide more voices.

Believe me, no one spends the time and money it takes to put together something like this and blindly submits an application to the FCC. Lawyers from all sides, WSAH, WTNH and the FCC and maybe even ABC but I doubt it, have been in "informal" discussion for awhile and they have some idea whether this idea has merit on all levels. It would not surprise me if LIN kicks in some money to help WSAH build out on ESB to help protect their position to be sure this gets done. Why else would LIN agree to a 16 year lease of subchannel space on WTNH when we really don't know what the technical and economic future of the industry will be 16 years out. If this works, I suspect you will see more of these type agreements, something the FCC has said they would be happy to consider.

One thought that just came to me, it is very possible that the WTNH subchannel could have more viewers than the WSAH main channel and who knows if down the road LIN doesn't just outright buy the station having a direct NY DMA station where they don't with WTNH now. Just a thought putting on my cynic's hat.

"The agreement provides for the simultaneous broadcast of WSAH-DT's primary channel programming lineup on one of WTNH-DT's multicast channels. In return, MTB Bridgeport will carry WTNH-DT's programming on one of WSAH-DT's multicast channels."

As specifically as these legal documents are written, you'd think they'd specify if they were carrying new programming from WTNH rather than the network feed. As of right now, the only programming on WTNH-DT is the feed with the ABC network programming.

- Trip

Like I said, lawyers have looked this over and no one spends this kind of money on a guess. Either there is some loop hole LIN has found in their contract with ABC or they have other plans and are not tipping their hand. They have a good idea this can fly or they wouldn't be trying it.

Like I said, lawyers have looked this over and no one spends this kind of money on a guess. Either there is some loop hole LIN has found in their contract with ABC or they have other plans and are not tipping their hand. They have a good idea this can fly or they wouldn't be trying it.

I'm not arguing with that, I'm sure they expect it to work. Just that I wish they were a little more specific.

My first thought had been that maybe they'd stick WAPA America on it, but then I was reminded that LIN sold that in 2006. I'm trying to figure out in my head just what LIN would want to put on it.

- Trip

From what I am hearing, Congress is done with anything dealing with the transition no matter what is brought forth at this late date.

At this point, probably the best we can hope for is that some stations will voluntarily end analog programming early and broadcast a message instead (for perhaps a week). However, it seems that there is resistance to this even though it is probably in the stations' best interests.

Otherwise, people looking at snow may not know what to do (despite the "living under a rock" comments). Something as simple as scanning for channels could be a significant problem.

Perhaps stations can buy time on the analog translators, if that is possible.

One thought that just came to me, it is very possible that the WTNH subchannel could have more viewers than the WSAH main channel and who knows if down the road LIN doesn't just outright buy the station having a direct NY DMA station where they don't with WTNH now. Just a thought putting on my cynic's hat.

I'm sure it would have more viewers. I can't receive WSAH in Mystic, CT, but can easily receive WTNH. However, I would rather have WTNH carry WFSB's main programming as a sub-channel (very wishful thinking). It would probably be more realistic for WTXX/CW to sub WFSB/CBS (but still highly doubtful).

As for competing ABC programming in NYC? I can't imagine that would be allowed (by ABC if not the FCC). So, is WTNH considering adding 2 subs? Note that WTNH had an encrypted sub-channel on my last visit, taking 3Mbps.

http://www.rabbitears.info/screencaps/ct-hct/74109-0_0.htm

I have a question regarding TSID and Display Channel Allocation. My understanding is that the TSID for a station is assigned by the FCC. At what point in the application process does that happen? Which document from the FCC shows that allocation? I can't find anything in the FCC database that lists a stations TSID.

Display Channel number seems even less clear. The ATSC A/65 standard gives rules for how the Display Channel should be assigned. But it is not clear if the FCC actually assigns the Display Channel based on that standard, or they just expect adherence to that standard. Can exceptions be made? Again, I don't see anything in the FCC database that keeps track of a stations Display Channel number.

TSID has traditionally been done by the ATSC for existing stations. They also maintain the list, not the FCC.

Major/minor channel number assignment was addressed by the FCC in the Second DTV Review and order in 2004 where it stated that stations will use their analog channel numbers as major channels even after the transition and even if the station is on a different channel. Stations beginning operations as digital only stations will use their RF channel as their major channel number, unless that number is already in use when the station would coordinate a new unused major channel number in the area with the FCC.

I have a question regarding TSID and Display Channel Allocation. My understanding is that the TSID for a station is assigned by the FCC. At what point in the application process does that happen? Which document from the FCC shows that allocation? I can't find anything in the FCC database that lists a stations TSID.

Here's a link to a table.

http://www.mstv.org/docs/tsidupdate.pdf

Ron

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN. Changed Station WXOW-DT's DTV Channel 14 to 48. (Dkt No. RM-11480, 08-156). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/01/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2233). MB DA-08-2233A1.doc DA-08-2233A1.pdf DA-08-2233A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), SUPERIOR, NEBRASKA. Proposed changing Station KSBN-DT's DTV Channel 34 to 4. (Dkt No. RM-11496, 08-209). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/01/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2234). MB DA-08-2234A1.doc DA-08-2234A1.pdf DA-08-2234A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. 73.622(I), FORT WAYNE, INDIANA. Proposed substituting DTV Channel 18 for DTV Channel 19 for Station WISE-DT. (Dkt No. RM-11495, 08-208). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/01/2008 by NPRM. (DA No. 08-2235). MB DA-08-2235A1.doc DA-08-2235A1.pdf DA-08-2235A1.txt

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), HONOLULU, HAWAII. Changed Station KGMB-DT's DTV Channel 9 to 22. (Dkt No. RM-11479, 08-155). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/03/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2247). MB DA-08-2247A1.doc DA-08-2247A1.pdf DA-08-2247A1.txt

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), STUART, FLORIDA. Changed Station WHDT-DT's DTV Channel 44 to 42. Terminated the Proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11473, 08-147). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/06/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2248). MB DA-08-2248A1.doc DA-08-2248A1.pdf DA-08-2248A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), FORT WORTH, TEXAS. Changed Station KTXA-DT's DTV Channel 18 to 19. Terminated the Proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11474, 08-148). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/06/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2249). MB DA-08-2249A1.doc DA-08-2249A1.pdf DA-08-2249A1.txt


POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), BAINBRIDGE, GEORGIA. Changed Station WTLH-DT's DTV Channel 49 to 50. Terminated the Proceeding. (Dkt No. RM-11469, 08-139). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/03/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2246). MB DA-08-2246A1.doc DA-08-2246A1.pdf DA-08-2246A1.txt

POST-TRANSITION DTV TABLE OF ALLOTMENTS, 47 C.F.R. § 73.622(I), LA CROSSE, WISCONSIN. Changed Station WXOW-DT's DTV Channel 14 to 48. (Dkt No. RM-11480, 08-156). Action by: Chief, Video Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 10/01/2008 by R&O. (DA No. 08-2233). MB DA-08-2233A1.doc DA-08-2233A1.pdf DA-08-2233A1.txt

Two of these changed channels don't say, "Terminated the Proceeding." Is that significant?

I'm assuming that KSBN should be KSNB.

Thanks for the updates.

As for KSNB, they issued an Erratum for it last night. They realized after they published it, apparently.

Each one that I looked at said it was terminated all the way at the bottom...

- Trip

Why so many channel changes/substitutions with less than 5 months remaining to get everything working?

--- CHAS

In the channel elections, a station with two in-core channels couldn't move to a third, unrelated channel without making agreements with every other channel they could possibly interfere with. For that reason, some of these changes couldn't be made during the channel election process.

Some stations have encountered financial problems that make it impossible for them to finance their moves to superior channels, and would rather keep the currently-operating digital.

Some stations have realized short-comings in their channels now that people are starting to use the converter boxes and are calling to complain.

Some stations want to change their transmitter location and can't do it on their current channel (these were frozen during channel elections). Some want to boost power and can't on their current channel.

There are many reasons.

- Trip